Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo, said the state government under the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike, has taken practical steps to encourage women’s emancipation in Rivers.
Banigo made the assertion in her keynote address, during the maiden edition of the Women in Energy, Oil, and Gas (WEOG) summit in Port Harcourt, at the weekend.
She said Governor Wike started a political revolution mandating all vice chairmanship positions in Local Government Council Elections to be reserved for women, in addition to her being elected as the first female two-term Deputy Governor in the South-South region in the country.
The deputy governor further urged Rivers women to get involved in the forthcoming general elections in 2023.
According to her, “Joyfully, now that the Electoral Act has been amended and signed into law, women must get their PVCs ready for the elections because every vote must count under the new electoral order.”
Banigo said the summit should not only serve as an umbrella for the inter-party and cross-cultural centripetal force for all women of substance but should also articulate and take appropriate steps that would address the lingering artificial and social-cultural barriers against women aspiring to fulfil destinies in their chosen professions in the society.
She noted that women had made remarkable strides in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and also called for the fixing of the nation’s refineries, appealed to participants to join the Rivers State Government in the fight against illegal refineries.
She noted that the activities of these criminally-minded individuals, groups or cartels have far-reaching socio-economic, environmental and health consequences.
Also, in her remarks, Wife of the Bayelsa State Governor, Mrs Gloria Douye Diri, said the summit came at the appropriate time to sensitize women and tell the world that women are supposed to be heard and seen.
