BY: VITALIS UGOH, Calabar
In a bid to emancipate women from abject poverty in Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River State, wife of the chairman Mrs. Eyoawan Offiong Bassey recently empowered over 30 women with Ten Thousand Naira to boost their petty businesses.
The exercise took place in a popular market in the local government, known as Okon Oyom market.
The women mostly the aged got the gesture from Akpabuyo first lady when she went to visit the area.
One of the beneficiary, a 52 year old woman who gave her name as madam Iquoa Effiong said she was very happy with the chairman’s wife gesture maintaining that she had been selling in that market for over thirty years.
In her words, “i have been selling in this market as a young woman in my middle thirty, this is the first time I have seen this kind of gesture from any local government administration in Akpabuyo”,
She was also full of praises for the Ayade led administration who made it possible for them to be carried along.
Another beneficiary who gave her name as Mrs. Nkoyo Bassey (42) said she was very happy for the chairman’s wife and the administration of Governor Ben Ayade who had made this possible.
In her words; “God will bless the wife of our chairman and our governor Ben Ayade for the gesture, I will use this money to improve my water leave business”.
While making the donations, Mrs. Bassey urged the women to make judicious use of the money as this will help them to boost their businesses
She called on the women to continue to pray and support the administration of Ben Ayade from state to local government level, adding that in time, more things would come to them.
In her remarks, Mrs. Bassey said the token was to help the market women boost their petty businesses, especially during this hard times.
She maintained that “women are the back bone of their husbands and families and they also contribute meaningfully in the growth of our economies hence the need to encourage them in any area. she explained
