Nkechi Okorocha joins in the campaign against child and maternal abuse

Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha (Middle) 

The Imo state First Lady, Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha has called on the authorities within the Traditional institution to put a stop to the inhuman treatment often given to widows upon the demise of their husbands.

She made this appeal during the launching of a book titled, “The Cry of Widows and Orphans” which is written by an African woman billionaire and founder of Rose of Sharon Foundation, Folorunsho Alakija.

 The book which chronicles on the plight of widows and suggests recommendations for formulation of policies aimed at promoting the course of widows, got launched at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs ( NIIA) in Lagos State on 31^st May 2013.

Speaking further at the occasion, Mrs. Okorocha urged affluent Nigerian women to follow Alakija’s footsteps by joining in the war against the discrimination of widows and orphans in the society.

  It will be recalled that the Imo State first lady, Mrs Okorocha had in 2012, launched a Non Governmental Organization called SNARP (She Needs A Roof Project), which aims at alleviating poverty and building support of widows in Imo State.

Earlier in a speech, the Special Assistant to the Imo state governor on Lagos/Southwest Liaison, Honorable Lisa Asugha said that “pure religion is to alleviate the plight of widows and orphans”. According to her, true religion can be practiced through the creation and execution of programmes that could give or tender financial independence and educational opportunities to widows, their children and orphans.   

According to the woman author, Folorunso Alakija, the book was written for the purpose of advocacy, the aim being to inform and ex-ray the challenges usually faced by widows and orphans in the society with a view to pushing for the national and international legislation.

 

In her words: “The interesting thing about the book is that it does not talk about Nigerian widows alone or African widows only. It talked about widows all over the world and how to empower them.

“If we fail to do something, it comes back to the society. Widows go through a lot of trauma and pain in the name of culture and tradition. In some cases whereby a man dies suddenly without much sickness and his widow is suspected to be the culprit, her late husband’s relatives would compel her to drink water used to bathe the corpse as a way of proving her innocence. This is unfair. Drinking such alone is a curse and it is written in the Bible,” she said.

The book launch however attracted stakeholders on issues that affect widows and orphans, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations, Senators and Legislators, Women’s Organizations, Government agencies and Government ministries, Promoters/partners and friends of the Foundation and Philanthropists.