Mrs Wike Advocates Policies To Empower Women

The wife of the Rivers
State Governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, has declared that half of the society’s problems will be solved when policies and programmes are put in place to empower women.
She stated that the Rivers State Government, in conjunction with Access Bank, will provide soft loans to women in the state to enable them expand their businesses.
Justice Nyesom-Wike spoke at a programme tagged: ”Womenpreneur”, a one-day seminar for women entrepreneurs organized by the Rivers State Government, in collaboration with Access Bank and Enterprise Development Centre, Pan Atlantic University in Port Harcourt.
The wife of the governor sponsored 237 women to acquire different entrepreneurial skills during the programme.
She said the training was to impact on the women’s managerial skills to enable them boost their businesses.
According to her: “When women are empowered, more than half of societal problems will be solved. We have learnt a lot that will improve the businesses of our women.
“I thank Access Bank for giving women the opportunity to learn how to be self-reliant. They have learnt to better their lives and businesses”, she said.
She added: “I wanted to sponsor just a 100 women, after one of our RivEthics programmes, I took my sponsorship to 200 of women we do not know, and 37 for women we know. Together, we sponsored 237 women”.
Justice Nyesom-Wike, who noted that the gains and benefits derived by participants outweigh the cost for the seminar, urged them to put into practical use their experiences for the overall betterment of the state.
The wife of the governor used the forum to admonish the women to always be supportive of each other as well as see themselves as equals with other people in the society.
She urged the women to strive to raise their children equally despite their gender to avoid discrimination as well as impact in them good morals that will engender mutual respect between husbands and wives when they get married.
In her remarks, the Deputy General Manager and Head of Products and Segments, Access Bank, Mrs. Ope Wemi-Jones, thanked the wife of the governor for her passion for Rivers women by sponsoring over 200 of them for the seminar.
She promised that the bank will support the participants through their Maternal Health Service Programme to improve on boost their financial needs.
Highpoint of the seminar was the presentation of certificates to participants by the wife of the governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike.