Sponsor Gender Bills, Rivers First Lady Urges Women Groups

Anayo Okolie

Wife of the Rivers State governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, has called on women groups in the continent to organise themselves into a strong network with a view to sponsoring legislations that would address challenges faced by women and children.

Nyesom-Wike said this at the Government House, Port Harcourt, weekend, when she received members of the African Women Lawyers Association. The first lady noted that African women and children were faced with ever-changing challenges and called for dynamic legislations to tackle them.

She lamented that many countries in Africa were still lagging behind other parts of the world in terms of the promotion of the rights of women and children rights. She said there was need for a coordinated approach to the problem because no one single group could effectively address the challenges.

Nyesom-Wike said, “We should come together to sponsor bills in our various parliaments, so that we can get legislations that promote the rights of women and children.

The time has come for African women to look towards moving things forward for ourselves. We have done well for ourselves, but there is still much to do. I have passion for issues that concern women and children. We shall continue to work with groups to promote the rights of women and children.”

Earlier, president of the African Women Lawyers Association, Mrs. Mandy Demechi Asagba, commended Nyesom-Wike for her passion for women and children. Asagba said the continent had peculiar challenges that hinder the development of women. She implored the River State governor’s wife to assist the association in the pursuit of its goal of improving the living condition of women and children.