Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhar,i has commended career women the world over who have proven their mettle as well as contributed to the shapping of  the world in various fields of endeavour.

Mrs. Buhari made the commendation during the 2016 African Career Women Summit tagged: “African Career Women in Nation Building”, organized by the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) in collaboration with Excellent Women International, which was held recently at Tinapa Lakeside, Calabar, Cross River State.

Declaring the 3-day summit open in Calabar, Mrs. Buhari, who was represented by the wife of Cross River State Governor, Dr. Linda Ayade, said many women in Nigeria have become household names for their various achievements and contributions in nation building.

The wife of the President maintained that, “no nation will boast of any meaningful development without the participation of their women” adding,  “affirmative action is simply a recognition of this and the fact that women are yet to enjoy their deserved pride of place in the building of our nation”.

She advocated for strong family values and enjoined women to mind their homes as well as do all that is necessary and legitimately possible in order to prepare their children for the future, while wishing all the participants fruitful deliberations.

Also speaking, the National President, NCWS, Dr.  Gloria Laraba Shoda expressed thanks to Cross River State Governor, Senator  Ben Ayade, and his wife, as well as the entire people of Cross River State for hosting the summit.

She said that “women have economic and political power as well as engage in trade and industry”, adding that, “the phenomenon of women contributing to the economic growth of a nation is not dead but lives in us”.

Shoda opined that women need more access to market, information, education, funding, micro credit loans to start up their businesses, marketing skills, amongst others, and therefore, called on the government and the private sector to look into the challenges faced by women and assist them to achieve their set goals.

In an address, the National Coordinator, Excellent Women International, Ambassador Christabel Okoye,  noted noting that the summit was designed to inform and educate career women on how to  better leaders, role models, mothers and better business people, as well as educate women leaders on skills and techniques for initiating, managing and sustaining the continent of Africa.

She disclosed, “the role of African career woman in building her nation cannot be over-emphasized. As mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and career women, our nation is our base and the hope of our children, therefore, our rights and roles in resource planning and management is paramount to sustainable development.

Okoye maintained that “no economy can be healthy without utilizing the contributions and skills of members of the society. Lack of or inadequate participation of women in governance means the exclusion of the greater part of the entire adult population deciding on issues that affect them”.

She, therefore, charged every woman to rise up in her respective offices and become role models against all odds, by ensuring that her voice is heard.