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Summit Seeks Support For Women In Leadership

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Convener, Prof Joyce Ebele Egwunyenga, Director,Centre for Gender and Development, Delta State University Abraka.

Women from academia, politics and other sectors on Wednesday 6th October, 2021 canvassed support for their fellow women who are in leadership positions.

They sought the support for women at the “Maiden Summit on Women in Leadership and Development” ,organised by Prof Mrs Joyce Ebele Egwunyenga, Director, Centre for Gender and Development Studies, Delta State, University, Abraka  in collaboration with 100 Women Lobby Group at the  750 Seater Lecture Hall, Site 3, Delta State University,  Abraka.

The cream of the society graced the occasion. Among  those present were the   Eminent Guest and Mother of the Day, Her Excellency Dame Edith Okowa, First Lady of the State;  Distinguished Guest of Honour, Her Excellency Dame Pauline K. Tallen, Honourable Minister of Women Affairs; His Lordship, Honourable Justice Pat Elumeze, President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Delta State; Her Royal Majesty, Obi Martha Dunkwu Omu Anioma/Nneoha; Guest Lecturers  such as  Prof. Lilian Salami, Vice Chancellor, the University of Benin, Maryam Omone Haruna;  and a host of others.

The wife of the governor in her presentation talked extensively on the place of women in the society. She encouraged women to support women in leadership for she has observed that most women prefer to support males instead of their female counterparts. She praised women who she sees as hardworking, good managers and administrators.

The First Lady commended the Delta State Government for being proactive towards women empowerment. She stated that in appointments in the state, there are six Commissioners, seventeen Local Government Deputy Chairmen and 91 Councillors currently serving under the Okowa-led administration.

In a lighter mood, the First Lady said while men often concentrate only on one thing at a time like watching football on the TV, the women do many things at the same time perfectly well  like tapping the child on her back while stirring the soup and listening with rapt attention to the baby sleeping in the bed to know whether he or she has woken up.

Corroborating the First Lady on women empowerment,  Honourable Justice Pat Elumeze, President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Delta State asserted that  the state has the second highest number of judges in Nigeria which is commendable.

According to the Convener, Prof Joyce Ebele Egwunyenga, the summit was in line with the avowed objective of reshaping the understanding of gender issues in Delta State in particular and Nigeria in general. She further averred that the achievement of the gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) would only be possible through an inclusive implementation of programmes aimed at removing every barrier to women empowerment in the world.

In his speech titled “Bridging the Gender Gap in Higher Education: The Delsu Experience,” the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Ogochukwu Egwunyenga , observed that women are  undervalued, continue to work more, earn less and are underrepresented in leadership positions.

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He advised that such a situation ought to be reversed. He emphasized that education is the strongest weapon to fight gender inequality and underdevelopment.

He, however, proudly mentioned that in Delta State University bridging the gap has influenced the policies of his administration in practically all aspects of the university life.For instance, the students strength compared in terms of gender, females (57.04% ) outnumber the males (42.96) . But he lamented that in engineering, medicine and law courses, the percentage of girls is relatively lower (medicine – 41.53% to 58.7%; law- 47.51%-52.49%; engineering 12.10%- 87.9%). He asserted the Delta State University is committed to bridging the gender gaps in engineering and medicine within the next few years.

Still on the issue of the gender gap, he said that the staff strength also shows that 60.5% of the staff are males while 39.5% are females.

He promised that Delsu is resolved to develop policies to bridge this unhealthy gender gap. The vice-chancellor advocated that the summit should provide a strong platform to address the spectrum of issues in women leadership and development.

 

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BREAKING: PDP Suspends Anyim, Fayose

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Anyim and Fayose

Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose; former president of the Senate, Pius Anyim; Prof Dennis Ityavyar and Aslam Aliyu were on Thursday suspended from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

The PDP made the suspension on Thursday after an extensive review of the affairs of the party, pursuant to the provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017).

The PDP also referred the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, to the National Disciplinary Committee over his reported involvement in anti-party activities.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.

“The PDP urges all leaders, critical stakeholders and teeming members of our party across the country to remain united and focused at this critical time,” the statement added.

 

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BREAKING: Ekweremadu, Wife Found Guilty Of Organ-trafficking In UK

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Ekweremadu and his wife

A United Kingdom court has found former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 50,  guilty of an organ-trafficking plot, which saw them bring a 21-year-old man to the UK

They were convicted of conspiring to exploit the man from Lagos for his kidney, reports the BBC.

Prosecutors told the Old Bailey the organ was to be removed and given to the couple’s daughter, Sonia, aged 25.

She was cleared of the same charge.

The victim, a street trader from Lagos, was brought to the UK last year to provide a kidney in an £80,000 private transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

They were later arrested at the airport while trying to leave the UK.

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NLC Orders Workers To Shut CBN Offices Nationwide Over Naira Scarcity

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NLC Suspends Plan To Protest Against Fuel Subsidy Removal

Worried about the continued scarcity of naira, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has officially declared a nationwide . The national president of the union, Joe Ajaero, gave the directive during a media briefing in Abuja.

Ajaero also directed that affiliate unions constituting the NLC should be on standby for picketing exercises across all branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria nationwide.

The NLC earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to end the petrol and cash scarcity being experienced in the country.

Ajaero told journalists on Wednesday that the industrial action became the last resort of the NLC following the expiration of the ultimatum.

He said the decision to picket the CBN branches became necessary as the federal government and the CBN had failed to show any commitment to addressing the situation.

Ajaero lamented that despite the Supreme Court order that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, the situation kept getting worse.

He said workers could not access cash to pay fares to work.

He also criticised the pricing irregularities in the petroleum sector.

“Last week, we gave an ultimatum for the review of the cash crunch bedevilling the country, but we have discovered to our dismay that as at this moment not much effort has been made to ameliorate the situation. Government is still foot-dragging on these issues we raised,” Ajaero said.

“Based on this, we met again this morning to review our position and resolved that by Wednesday next week all CBN branches will be picketed. Workers are directed to stay at home too because people cannot eat, workers can no longer go to the office, we have been pushed to the wall.

“We have decided to take our destiny in our hands, we have mobilised our workers on this exercise.”

The NLC has no fewer than 43 affiliate unions which include, but not limited to, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

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