…….Donates relief materials to flood victims
Lorine Emenike
As part of the activities to commemorate its 2018 conference, a non-governmental organization based in Port Harcourt which focuses on the plight of women in business, Advancing Women In Business, ADWIB, has urged women to be prudent in managing their businesses.
The conference with the theme “Breaking barriers and expanding frontiers”, is aimed at sensitizing women on how to grow their businesses from small-scale into large scale.
The president of the organization, Mrs Josephine Itonyo and her team visited Bayelsa to educate the women, especially the flood victims on how best to grow and manage their little businesses.
The group also donated relief materials to victims of the flood disaster.
While playing host to ADWIB in her office during a brief courtesy visit before the commencement of the event, the Bayelsa state commissioner for women and children, Deaconess Martha Jenakumoh commended the group for their noble gesture towards the plight of the vulnerable Bayelsa women especially at a time in their lives when they needed sensitization and relief materials.
While addressing her ADWIB guest, she said that, “Bayelsa women are strong women. And in this period of hardship, hardship only strengthens people, it does not consume, instead it makes us come out strong and tall”.
The commissioner promised to brief the state governor, Seriake Dickson of the group’s visit and their noble gesture.
The president of ADWIB, Mrs Josephine Itonyo, while appreciating the Bayelsa state commissioner for the warm welcome, stated that ” reaching out to the Bayelsa women at this point in their lives is actually a privilege”
She explained that in the cost of doing business and other things, it has been discovered that most women, especially Nigerian women, are unable to start businesses and sustain or build up the business to a greater height due to their personal life challenges or the lack of adequate understanding of how to best run and grow their businesses.
According to her, it is on this note that Advancing Women in business was established.
Continuing, Mrs Itonyo, said that the program has been in existence for six years, educating and advancing women in business from small tabletop businesses into big cooperations.
She said being saddled with the burden of the state of women, especially as most of them are married to civil servant husbands who solely depend on their meagre salaries at the end of each month to provide for the entire family, the organization ADWIB, is educating and advancing women from their small businesses to standout into global platforms.
Mrs Itonyo stressed that as part of this year’s conference, the organization had chosen Bayelsa to advance the Bayelsa women by first exposing them to business opportunities around their environment and to establish a relationship with the Bayelsa state government so as to help advance women in the state.
Mrs Itonyo said that women are the drivers of economic growth of the nation.
She said “Without women, we can not build a country and states that are strong and viral. It has been proven over and over that 80% of the force or developmental power of a nation comes from women. And so if we don’t adequately develop women or assist women, it will affect whatever the government is doing”.
She said that in this year’s conference, ADWIB is partnering with other sisters NGOs and organizations to better educate and equip women in ensuring that they are well modelled to advance in their various choice of businesses.
She also said that ADWIB is also partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Smedan and other cooperate bodies to sensitize women.
She urged women to go register their businesses with the Cooperate affairs commission at the cost of N5,000.00 instead of N10,000.00 as the federal government is giving small businesses the opportunity to register their businesses so as to have a structure/legal binding.
She said that women will also be educated on how to brand their businesses and also teach them how to best use the internet to grow their businesses.
Also, Dr Tolu, a gynaecologist and obstetrician at the Federal Medical Center in Bayelsa State, also educated the participants in a health pep talk and on how to best take care of themselves before, during and after pregnancy.
