Delta Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, has said that women empowerment needs to be tackled with concerted action to bridge widening inequality gap in Nigeria and African.
The governor stated this while inaugurating Women Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (WESAP) in Asaba on Monday.
He said that the issue of women empowerment had for a long time been more than a national concern.
He observed that in most African traditional societies, experience had shown that in spite of comprising majority of the population, women were routinely abused, marginalized, and discriminated against, particularly in the economic sector.
According to the governor, both experts and policy makers agree that empowering women, especially the poor rural women, is fundamental to economic development in Nigeria.
He said that financial freedom for women meant more confident women, less burden for the men, better living standards for the family, improved communities and a sense of fulfillment.
Okowa said that the state government had taken a step further in its entrepreneurial and skills acquisition training programmes by unveiling WESAP patterned after other entrepreneurship development programmes such as STEP, YAGEP, GEST and RYSA.
He said that with the introduction of WESAP, the state government had covered virtually every vulnerable group in the society in its continuing efforts to create wealth, achieve social inclusion and develop sustainability.
“Since we came on board in May, 2015, we have undertaken several measures, especially through the Ministry of Women Affairs and the Microfinance Scheme, to lift our women out of poverty and enhance their participation in the economy.
“We are taking it a step further today by unveiling the Women Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (WESAP), patterned after our other entrepreneurship development programmes, namely, STEP, YAGEP, GEST, and RYSA.
“As some of us here may be aware, women empowerment has for a long time been more than a national concern; it is a recurring global issue and one that needs to be tackled with concerted action to bridge the widening inequality gap in Nigeria and the African continent.
“In most African traditional societies, experience shows that in spite of comprising the majority of the population, women are routinely abused, marginalized, and discriminated against, particularly in the economic sector,” he said.