Women from the various communities in the Niger Delta region stormed Warri on Wednesday, September 25, dissociating themselves from the planned October 1 protest against the present administration.
Rising from a Stakeholders engagement with the Niger Delta women, organised by the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), themed “Niger Delta Women: Empowerment as a Panacea for Peace, Stability and Economic Growth”, the women groups lamented that many self-interested bodies are presently going about with ulterior motives asking people to do negative things”.
The Wednesday’s gathering was in continuation of the expanded Niger Delta Stakeholders meeting of women groups and youth bodies, community leaders, opinion leaders, elders, traditional rulers and camp leaders by the PAP office.
In their resolution at Wednesday’s parley, the women drawn from all the ethnic nationalities in the oil-rich belt, asked their children and wards to shun the planned protests.
They also urged to discourage their children and wards from joining any protest against the authorities.
To this end, they pleaded with Nigerians to give Tinubu’s administration a chance to confront and deal with the multi-faceted challenges facing the country.
While lauding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for its support for women and youths in the region, they stated that “when you appoint the right people into the right position, then you should start seeing positive result”.
Reading the communique of the meeting to journalists, a woman leader in the Niger Delta, Madam Beauty Warejuowei, urged women in the region to “stand firm and make the best use of opportunities given them by the authorities”.
“This will give government the encouragement to do even more”, she stated.
Warejuowei noted that “the Niger Delta region has been having PAP Coordinators before now, but this is the time we can say the right people has been appointed to the right position”.
The women acknowledged there “were challenges but Mr. President has initiated various policies and programmes to address the challenges.”
“Within little time, we are very sure that these problems would become a thing of the past.”
The women commended Tinubu for appointing Otuaro as Head of PAP, describing the appointment as “square peg in a square hole.”
They also commended him Otuaro for organising the forum, saying that it was the first time the Niger Delta women were actively involved in the activities of PAP.
They lamented that previous administrators of PAP excluded them from the activities of the government’s interventionist agency.
In his address at the stakeholders forum, Otuaro commended the women forum for their support for the present administration just as he acknowledged their role in sustaining peace in the region.
He said, “We have to do it together. Talking peace in the Niger Delta, it is our women that are sustaining the peace. The destiny of Niger Delta is in the hands of women”.
Otuaro added that the economic challenges in the country are temporary and appealed to the women group not to relent in their efforts to support the administration’s socioeconomic initiatives.
The PAP Administrator assured the women groups of sustained empowerment, vocational trainings, grants and scholarships to further add value to their lives.
In attendance at the event were notable women leaders from the Niger Delta region including Mrs. Ann-Kio Briggs, a frontline woman activist in the region; Chief Mrs. Vero Tangbowei, Madam Beauty Warejuowei as well as the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) President, Mr. Jonathan Lokpobiri and the pioneer IYC President, T. K. Ogoriba, prominent women and men traditional title-holders, among others, in the region were on hand in solidarity with the Amnesty Office.
An elated Otuaro thanked the woman for their support for him and the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Otuaro urged them to consistently support the Tinubu’s administration, adding that “though there are challenges, there would be light at the end of the tunnel.”