•Diasporan women group flaunts culture, floats educational initiative

From Daniel Ezindu, London

Igbo women in diaspora are disturbed by the plight of underprivileged children in communities across Igboland.

This set of Igbo amazons, on the platform of Adaure Igbo Women Association International, has joined forces to reverse the ugly trend. So, every year, they meet to mobilise support for the development of Igbo communities in Nigeria.

Founder and president of the group, Lady Aqueen Ibeto (Adabuzo Ndi Igbo) disclosed this at the formal launch of their ‘Train-a-Child Initiative,’ as part of activities marking this year’s Adaure Igbo Women Day in London, United Kingdom.

She said that the initiative was more than a programme, calling it a covenant of destiny with the next generation. According to her, it was also a covenant with their God-given responsibility to raise leaders, not just children.

She explained that their goal was to sponsor and support selected children from the communities, from nursery through tertiary education, so that they could fulfil their destinies.

In fact, Ibeto declared that, with the initiative, the group was lighting the candle of hope in communities that thought they were forgotten: “We are giving back as Adaure women, with love, with dignity and with a strong sense of purpose.

“Let me be clear: this initiative is not charity. It is legacy. When you train a child, you do not just change one life—you change a family. You change a village. You change a generation.

And so today I call on everyone gathered here—our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our partners in progress: Join us. Support us. Sponsor a child. Invest in a destiny.

“Together, let us build a future where no Igbo child is left behind—not because of where they were born, but because of where they are going.”

Addressing the teeming members of the Igbo community in the UK and other guests, Ibeto explained the essence of the Adaure Igbo Women Day.

She said it was a day of celebration, reflection and reaffirmation of who they were as a people, describing their members as daughters of heritage, mothers of legacy and torchbearers of Igbo pride in the diaspora.

She further said that their vision at inception was to unite Igbo women abroad in cultural purpose, but they had grown into a global sisterhood of strength, dignity and action: “We are proud custodians of Igbo values, language, customs, dress and dignity. In a world that often forgets where it’s coming from, we refuse to forget who we are.

“But, more importantly, we are not only remembering—we are transmitting. We are passing it on; to our daughters, who must walk boldly in the world knowing that their roots are strong; to our sons, who must honour women and carry Igbo culture with pride and to our children, who must speak the language, wear the attire, understand our festivals and know the strength of the Igbo woman.

“Whether through cultural workshops, traditional dance, storytelling, charity work or community mentoring, we are raising not just children—we are raising legacy builders.”

Cultural displays signposted the event, with many parents renewing their commitment to exposing their children to Igbo language and culture.

Some of the guests told Daily Sun that the development of Igboland was a generational responsibility for Igbo men and women alike.