● Says organisation committed to addressing women, children, elderly challenges
The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of New Dawn for Women and Community Intervention Initiative (NEWOMCII), Alhaji Bolaji Raji, has challenged Nigerian men, particularly politicians to emulate their counterpart in Liberia by giving women the chance to preside over the nation’s affairs at the highest levels of governance.
This was as he commended the dedication and commitment of women’s participation in politics in Africa, particularly in Liberia, where a woman is presently the President of the Senate and another that was once elected President of the country.
Raji, who stated these when he visited some leaders of NEWOMCII, applauded the partnership between NEWOMCII and Nyonblee Cares Foundation (NCF) describing it as a blessing towards a greater furture for the continent.
He therefore called on Nigeria men to emulate their counterpart in Liberia by giving women the chance to preside over the nation’s affairs at the highest levels of governance.
Raji also acknowledged the strategic support and roles of a senior female figure, Her Excellency (Barrister) Tupee Enid Taylor, wife of former President Charles Taylor of Liberia, in the partnership.
While sharing some of the lessons learnt from NFC, Raji noted that they are assimilating very fast from the Liberian Senate President and Founder of the NCFoundation by drawing from her wealth of experience, exposure and virtue of network and humanitarian interventions for women, children and the vulnerable groups.
In the words of Raji; “These and other key attractions in the NCF approach including, a strong and dedicated board of Directors; small administrative team in office and very large in the fields concept; attractive models of “speed-schools” for the equivalents of the Almajiris in Nigeria; mobile-clinics with surgical referrals and the Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) initiatives necessitated the need for the ‘Collaborative Partnership’ between the two organizations aimed at addressing social challenges impacting women, children, elderly and other vulnerable groups in the society/community empowerment.
“The first time it happened in Liberia, when a woman was elected as the President of the country, it looked like circumstances warranted it. Now, again, it has happened, a woman is leading the parliament in Africa.
“Nigerian men should learn from the experience of Liberia by giving women the chance to preside over affairs at the highest level
“I am not a politician, but I have a number of them as friends. I think I’ll start inviting them to Liberia to learn about women participation in politics. We will also invite her to Nigeria to come and inspire our women,” he enthused.
Raji said that considering the core values of both organizations, their vision aligns in the areas of complementing the efforts of the government by advancing humanitarian supports; promoting arts & culture; agribusiness/value addition; empowerment of women and girls; educational supports and skills acquisition, enhancing the STEM/Robotic initiative, all of the above in close collaboration with relevant MDAs.
He said; “As we strategize to effectively deliver these and impact the economy, the long term benefits from the relationship for our targeted beneficiaries range from addressing the root causes of poverty; drastically reducing un-employment; empower and capacitate the beneficiaries; encourage more women to take-up leadership roles in supporting the men and households, amongst other long-term benefits.
Speaking on the achievements of NEWOMCII in the last one year, Raji said since the official launch of NEWOMCII in April this year, there have been some major bold steps and recorded success stories, adding that there are also plans to launch a regional network as time progresses.
He explained that before the official launch, a number of activities and interventions are already in the pipeline along other thematic areas.
Raji said; “Our next steps are being drawn from the same thematics areas of arts & craft; agriculture & agribusiness; education; health, mobility & safety; advocacy/community empowerment as well as continuous partnership with like-minded humanitarian and corporate organizations within their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs).
“Considering the period of elections that we are in, we plan to support our youth with NIN and PVC registrations and advocate for them to carry out their civil right of voting.
“Before now, we have had medical outreach in some communities in the FCT and with the unfortunate resurgence of Ebola in Nigeria. We also plan to carry out sector-specific outreach to the general public on preventive measures in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Civil Society at large,” he stated.
