Women empowerment’ll transform Nigeria- NGO

The founder of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Brave Women Association, Evangelist (Mrs) Matilda Farinde, has said Nigerian women possessed the potentials to transform the nation, if empowered and given proper orientation.

According to her, women had become “change agents” that should be given chance to contribute to nation building.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Brave Women Association in Osogbo, Osun State, Farinde explained that the association, which had been in existence since 1980, had been assisting women, especially widows, to be good ambassadors of their families and the nation at large.

She said that the association had helped numerous women, orphans and the needy in Nigeria and beyond, stressing that the nation would experience transformation if women were properly empowered and given the right orientation.

Farinde, however, tasked the women in the state to be virtuous and take good care of their families and not to allow themselves to be harassed by male politicians. 

The philanthropist advised women against becoming “cheap tools” in the hands of politicians, but to be brave women of substance in the society.

Farinde, who doubles as the state commandant of the National Task Force in Osun, said that the association had also been offering financial assistance to women.

According to her, “Women should desist from giving themselves out to politicians. During electoral periods, some women are “used” and after the election, most of them are “dumped.”

“Brave Women Association is here to help women, especially widows, orphans and the needy to realise their potentials and know that they are change agents and not cheap commodities.

“Most homes have been destroyed because women are not virtuous. Women can redeem the image of Nigeria if proper orientation and empowerment are put in place. We don’t want our women to suffer. If our women participate in politics without being abused, there will be development in the country.”

Also speaking at the inauguration, the President of Market Women in the state, Alhaja Awawu Asindemade, urged women to explore their feminine values to transform their families and their societies.

She said empowerment of women had the potential of creating social, economic and political change in the country.

The Ataoja of Osogbo land, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun,  appreciated the founder of Brave Women Association for establishing it in the state, saying the association came at the right time.

The monarch, therefore, charged hundreds of women, who gathered at White Plain Hotels Hall in osogbo, to make creative and beneficial use of the association in liberating themselves.

Members of the executives in the state were inaugurated and charged to be hard working.