Patience Jonathan Donates Skills Acquisition Equipment To 1,000 Widows In Imo

WIFE of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Tuesday donated
assorted skills acquisition equipment to over 1,000 widows in the
state.

Addressing the widows before distribution of the items, Minister of
State 1, Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri, who also
represented the President's wife, said Dame Jonathan was interested in
making widows economically independent.

The items doled out to Imo widows included several units of sewing
machines, scores of hair driers, electric generating machines,
grinding machines, cartons of soap, several bundles of textile
materials, about 1,000 bags of rice, insecticide treated mosquito nets
and bags of salt.
"The gesture was part of the measures initiated by the President's
wife to alleviate poverty among widows, especially those in the rural
communities," Onwuliri said.

She described Dame Jonathan as "a compassionate mother, committed to
championing the cause of women in Nigeria".

After enumerating some of the projects executed by the Federal
Government in the state, Professor Onwuliri noted that government had
mobilised the contracting firm handling the ever busy
Owerri-Elele-Port Harcourt dual carriage way.

Similarly, State Coordinator, Women for Change and Development
Initiative, Dr Gloria Chukwukere, commended the wife of the President
for positively touching lives through her pet project.

"Never before have we seen or noted this level of empowerment of
widows in the state. The President's wife has provided Medicare for
children and scholarship for the needy and a lot of other goodies,"
Chukwukere said.

Some of the widows, who spoke toVanguard, commended Dame Jonathan for
the donations, promising that they would stand solidly behind
President Jonathan during the 2015 general election.

--Vanguard