The Federal Fire Service Officers Wives Association (FOWA) has given Start-up packs to some vulnerable women in Area One of Masaka in Karu Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa State, a town bordering the Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking at the occasion, FOWA National President, Mrs Olumode Olufunke said the mission of the association is to help the needy women in society and see how they can contribute meaningfully to their families and communities.
She said: “Our goal is very simple. The motto of FOWA is all about providing for the needy, it’s not that we have so much. It’s not that we’ve been able to solve our problems. No, we believe that out of the things we have, we should be able to put smile on someone’s face, and that’s why we are here today to put smile on the faces of fellow women.
“When a woman is idle the whole system is not balanced, it’s sick, so when you see women that are wiling to better their lives, we just need to do the little we can do and that is what brought about this.
“You know when you empower a woman, you are empowering the family and as well the community, And before you know it, it’s going to be a great thing for the nation, and that is why we are here today.
“So please, I want to beg you, go back and sit down and think of how you are going to multiply what we have given you. Our concern is what you are going to make of what are giving you today. How you are going to bring beauty out of that small thing out there,” Mrs Olumode said.
Speaking to journalists after distributing the items,the FOWA President disclosed that in the process of getting the beneficiaries, FOWA members were used who reached out to them, and they all asked what they would want to do to earn a living. She said the answers they gave led to the items acquired for distribution for the women to start a business.
According to the FOWA President, this was not the first time the association was reaching out to vulnerable women.She recalled that they had done such empowerment programmes in other parts of Abuja and its environs, including Kwali. And at the state level, she said their members in some states had organised the empowerment outreach for needy women in recent times.
She charged the beneficiaries to ensure that the little they are given is prudently invested to become greater in the future.
She thanked the Controller General (CG) of the Federal Fire Service and her husband, Olumode Samuel Adeyemi for supporting this mission. “All this is happening because we have somebody that is ready to support whatever we are doing. Also, I want to thank our husbands for giving us the opportunity by allowing us to come out to attend this great programme,” she said.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Elizabeth Chukwuemeka thanked FOWA for the opportunity, saying she has anxiously waited for the day to come.
She said she had wanted to do groundnut business and that is what FOWA provided her with, promising to ensure that the opportunity is utilised maximally to reciprocate the good gesture.
“I actually wanted to do groundnuts business – to dry and sell, and that is what I got from them. Really, I desired to do something. I’ve even started. I just need a little push, and that has come.I am truly grateful to FOWA,” she said.
The high point was the distribution of the items, which followed a short fun and interactive session moderated by Mrs Comfort Yahaya, and a vote of thanks delivered by Mrs Aminat Baru.
