By Elijah Ugani
The wife of the Cross River State Governor, Dr Linda Ayade has today 16th July, 2021 unveiled the training and empowerment of 3600 maidens in Cross River State through the Cross River Urban to Rural Women Mentorship Program.
The pilot phase which held at Obanliku Local Government Council hall had 200 maidens drawn from the ten wards of Obanliku.
Declaring the event open, Dr Linda Ayade thanked the Chairman of Obanliku Local Government Council for providing the enablement for the pilot phase and used the opportunity to acknowledge the unwavering support of her dear mother, Mrs Mary Akpo who has been the pivot of all her programs and initiatives.
She averred that “It is not by my power, God gave me this vision and I’m happy today, it is has come to fruition. We are poised to change the narratives of the girl child in Cross River State through the Cross River Urban to Rural Women Mentorship Program”.
Referring to the maidens, she said, “We deliberately gave you the color you are wearing and as you can see, if any one enters here, you can be identified. It beholds on you to ensure that as you go out, let your lives stand out positively. You have to behave differently, for the fruit of this training needs to be visible in the manner at which you live you lives. There should be a different you from who you were before this training.
“Obanliku maidens, you are a very special people, that we are starting from you, it is not by accident that you are the pioneer beneficiaries and you must always be at the forefront.
“As we start from you, you are going to be in front and dishing out instructions to others. If you go down the trauma and challenges the girl child goes through in life, you will weep, but God has given you the strength to come out victorious.
“Reminiscing on the challenges faced by the girl child, we have put this program for you to assist you realize your dreams. If we continue with the trend that is going on currently, it will be very difficult for you to realize your God given potentials. We want a paradigm shift from thinking that the only thing a woman should do is to give birth. You have to realize that you have enormous potentials to contribute to the development of the society.
“Please take this opportunity very seriously, you don’t know where it will take you to. The training is to lay the foundation for you, go and explore other ideas that will reform you. We are trying to invest in your future, kindly take it very seriously.
“By the time our evaluators will come here, we want to have positive reports. The intellect God has given you, you can use it to achieve anything. This is your opportunity, come out, don’t be afraid. We are looking forward to a different Obanliku using you as a contact point”.
On her part, the State Coordinator of Cross River Urban to Rural Women mentorship program, Hon Agnes Atsu, thanked Dr Linda Ayade for the initiative to mentor the rural women.
Atsu maintained that “Our joy knows no bounds as you could join us in this program, this shows your commitment to the program”
She used the opportunity to commend the team that was carefully selected for the program. “We are carrying out the pilot face here in Obanliku, as we progress to other LGAs, we hope to achieve perfections”, she said.
Speaking further, Atsu noted that “I present to you, the 200 maidens in Obanliku for the mentorship program. We are glad that they are showing serious interest to the mentorship program.
“We have not recorded any resistance in the course of the training. We assure you that at the end of this training, you are going to have a brand new and reformed maidens in Obanliku.
“In line with your aspirations which seek to outlive your stay in office, we are going to have a team of monitoring and evaluation officers to ensure that what we are starting here today, will be followed up and sustained”.
On her part, the Chairman of Obanliku Local Government Council, Evang Mrs Margaret Inde, welcomed and thanked the wife of the Governor for choosing Obanliku among other LGAs for the pilot phase of the Cross River Urban to Rural women mentorship program.
Inde maintained that “The maidens of Obanliku have been very vulnerable to teenage pregnancy, early marriage. Dr Linda Ayade is very passionate about the plight of women. A woman who looks at the child and imagine how she was growing up, and had put together this program for self realization for our maidens, I must commend her.
“I also suffered the cruelty of the pains of the Obanliku girl child. I only meandered to come out by God’s grace. I never had someone to mentor me”.
She used the opportunity to reiterate the fact that every Obanliku child needs to be mentored.
Referring to the wife of the Governor, she said “I want to assure you that for the 200 mentees in Obanliku, they will not disappoint or forget you”.
In a goodwill message, the Deputy Leader of Obanliku Legislative Council, Hon Raymond Eperypa commended the wife of the the Governor for the program initiated to train 200 youths in Obanliku. He used the opportunity to request the wife of the Governor to continue to think and remember Obanliku as the only thing that distinguished Obanliku is the mountain that surrounds it”.
Speaking to The Lumine News, the Coordinator of the maidens in Obanliku, Unyour Daniel Ikweng thanked the wife of the Governor for finding them worthy of the training and empowerment and pledged the commitment of other maidens to sustaining the gains of the program.
The Cross River Urban to Rural women mentorship program was recently launched by the wife of the Governor, Dr Linda Ayade with the view to identify, train, empower and mentor 200 rural women in each of the 18 local government areas of the state.
Various training topics were put together for the maidens including agribusiness, business plan, marketing strategies and business opportunities.
According to the Secretary to the Committee, Mr Fred Abua, the training will be held in all the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
