A community in Idemili North local government area of Anambra state has tasked women to take active roles in community leadership as a measure to curb criminalities in society.
This charge was made by the President, Ogidi Women Hon. Mrs. Ify Okonkwo at the 2-day leadership summit themed, “Inspiring Women to Lead, Engage and Impact Knowledge, held on Monday, at Ogidi.
This summit, reports gathered, was also to reawaken the consciousness of Ogidi women to sufficiently discharge their responsibilities towards curbing criminalities that have eaten deep into the community and society, at large.
Hon.Okonkwo lamented the increasing violence, rape and molestation against women and girl-child, rape, cultism, drug abuse, among others, and called for holistic approach by women to find the best means to curb them.
The women group president also noted that The menace of cultism is glaringly seen and felt lately in our society and asserted that Such notorious groups and their activities must be discouraged across the state and beyond, even as she called on all women and mothers to rise up to their abandoned responsibility of cautioning their wards, especially at the family level.
In a remark, the chairman of the occasion and Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on Political Matters Barr.Ifeatu Obi-Okoye noted that women are the real leaders in society, and encouraged them to take the message back home as, without a stable home, there cannot be a stable society.
Obi-Okoye affirmed that The role of women in combating menace amongst youths can never be overemphasized and urged women to beef up their involvement in curbing cultism, which, according to him, was as a result of failed homes.
Tracing the history of cultism in Nigeria, the guest speaker said poor leadership, poverty, peer group pressures, and so on, were also responsible for increasing cult activities in our society and called for its eradication from home.
Another guest speaker, Oluebube Ngige, who spoke on the Increasing trend of rape and women molestation in communities, decried the spate of rape, which he said was in many varieties. He called on parents to intensify their efforts in providing guidance to their children. While highlighting the negative consequences of rape and other related crimes, Ngige fingered parents over utter negligence of their fundamental duties.
Ofoegbunam Osakwe who is also a guest at the event reminded women of their roles in promoting moral and traditional values to reshape their communities.
Speaking on Drug abuse, and the Roles of mothers in curbing the menace & Nigerian laws on drug abuse, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Barr. Chiedu Igbokwe acknowledged the rising drug abuse in the world over and reminded participants of extant laws prosecuting persons connected to drug peddling and usage. He also said that drug abuse was predominant among youths.
Admitting that societal and peer group pressures were major contributors to spates of drug abuse, Barr. Igbokwe tasked mothers to warn their children on the dangers of drug abuse, as well as instil in them at a tender age the spirit of hard work.
He further recommended awareness against the deepening menace through the establishment of community counselling centres across our communities, inclusion of drug abuse in school curriculum, sensitisation, among others, as measures to curb drug abuse in our society.
Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, an aspirant in the Anambra state gubernatorial election under the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in his remark expressed hope that the summit would address the thematic areas of the training. He encouraged mothers not to give up on their children and enjoined them to always put their trust in God. To curb these ills in our society, he called for value reorientation as well as good governance, noting that society was a reflection of its leadership style.
The highlight of the event was a vote of thanks by the traditional ruler of Ogidi, HRM Igwe Pharmacist Alex Uzor Onyido to the organisers.
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