Olonisakin Wants Foundation For Military Widows

President, Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA), Mrs Omobola Olonisakin, has advocated for creation of foundation to cater for educational and healthcare needs of military widows and orphans in Nigeria.
Olonisakin made the call at the maiden National Stakeholders Convention of Military Widows Association (MIWA) yesterday in Abuja.
She urged the leadership of MIWA to look into how such foundation could be promoted as an internal mechanism through which they can address some of their problems.
The DEPOWA president said there was need to create a platform to provide education and healthcare delivery for widows and their wards.
She also urged the widows to continue to work hard to make ends meet by engaging themselves in businesses for sustainable source of support.
Olonisakin commended the leadership of the association for doing their best to ensure the smooth running of the association.
She assured of DEPOWA’s continuous support towards making their lives meaningful.
“In line with this, I am happy to say that DEPOWA has been organising skill acquisition training for widows where they are being equipped with starter packs and money to start businesses to enhance their income.
“From the feedback we are receiving, the programme is helping many widows to stand on their feets and take good care of their families,” she said.
The Director General, Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab, said the widows needed strength to persevere to overcome the challenges of widowhood.
Wahab urged the women to strive to overcome their individual backgrounds and work in unity to develop their potentials for the good of members of the association.
He also urged the leadership of MIWA to exhibit high moral courage towards meeting the collective aspiration of the members.
Also, the Director, Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Lawal Abdullahi, said the import of the convention was to assure the widows that they remained parts of the military family.
Abdullahi said that the Chief of Defence Staff believed that military widows should come together under one umbrella to pursue common goal, adding that there was need for them to remain united.
He said that the military was concerned about the plights of the widows, adding that it was determined to unify the association towards strengthening it to address its members plights.
“We know that some of you are comfortable where you are and how you are but there are others who need to be supported and carried along.
“This maiden convention