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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
For the women of Amaokwe Item in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, August every year is the month of appraisal. It is a month they map out to gather and take stock of what they have been able to give back to society the previous year. This is done under the aegis of Amaokwe Item Welfare Union (Women Wing) (AIWU-WW), using the banner Amaokwe Item Women’s August Conference.
The grand finale of this year’s conference fell on August 10. Women of the community from within and outside the country, on this day, gathered at the late Madam Jane Egbichi Oteh Mini Stadium at Central School, Atanko, Amaokwe Item, for the celebration of the 2024 Amaokwe Item Women’s August Conference, with the theme, “The virtuous woman’s kitchen: the health of the family.”
In her keynote address at the event, the national president of the union, Mrs. Mercy Kesandu Uko, said the theme of this year’s conference, which emphasized the central role of women in maintaining the health and wellbeing of their families through the choices they make in the kitchen, was apt.
“It underscores the importance of nutrition, cooking practices and food preparation in promoting overall family health and happiness,” she said.
She said the mandate of her executive, which was inaugurated two years ago, was to reposition Amaokwe Item women towards greater unity, progress and improved welfare, while also contributing to the overall development of their community in collaboration with the menfolk.
Amaokwe Item women, according to their national president, embarked on aggressive developmental projects in the last one year. Some of these achievements, as she proudly reeled out, include establishment of an overseas branch of AIWU-WW in Europe and Togo, while efforts were on to establish additional branches in Canada and national branches in Kano, Warri and Zaria.
On education, Mrs. Uko said AIWU-WW, through its education committee, has given scholarship to some indigent students in the area. She said at the last count 76 students in secondary school and one in the university were under their scholarship scheme. In addition, the women paid WAEC examination registration fees for 41 students at Item High School.
Other achievements by the women in the last one year include embarking on the second batch of their skills acquisition scheme and Amaokwe Item Women’s Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, which presently has over 60 shareholders.
Equally on the list of achievements of the women are empowerment of farmers, organisation of the first ladies’ bouquet night, upgrading of the national uniform and the empowerment of Amaokwe Item women to assist their husbands at home, and 230 women were said to have been so empowered.
The AIWU-WW national president also reeled out the projects the group completed in the corresponding year which are: the renovation and upgrading of the health centre at Amaokwe Item, provision/equipping of a mini library at Item High School, installation of 7.5KVA 48V inverter system, 16 pieces of Mono 380 watts and eight pieces of Genus carbon batteries at the Amaokwe Item Women Development Centre. The women also created women stakeholders’ online forum to link with their members in the diaspora.
Mrs. Uko said the most outstanding project the women are going to embark upon in the coming year is a N20 million cassava cottage industry, which she disclosed, when completed, will offer economic opportunities and food security to the community.
It has not been all win-win for the women as they have had their challenges, as encapsulated by Mrs. Uko. They are lack of funds “to admit more indigent students for both our educational and skills acquisition programmes, lack of professional weaving machines, inadequate hair dryers and funds to empower more widows and underprivileged women among them.”
She, therefore, appealed for support to complete the projects, which she said would turn the community around positively.
The chairperson on the occasion, Dr. Becky Oguama, praised the women for partnering with the Abia State government in the development of Amaokwe Item. She said the office of the woman traditionally said to be in the kitchen was not only to provide food but to also bring development for the entire household.
“The women should, henceforth, not allow your office (kitchen) to be a place only where food is prepared, but where the culture of the people as represented by their local delicacies is taught and sustained,” she said.
Oguama, who is the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Abia State, commended the women’s cassava cottage industry, which she said would be of economic value to the community. She urged all to support the women in their developmental efforts to turn the community around.
National vice president of the union, Chief (Mrs.) Ijeoma Ogba Nwokoro, expressed joy about the turnout of women of Amaokwe Item both at home and in the diaspora for this year’s August conference despite the excruciating economic condition in the country. She disclosed that the women of the community have done a lot to develop the area, adding that they were not going to relent.
She said this year’s conference was special because of the fact that, for the first time in several years, a woman was chosen as the chairperson of the event.
She said: “We chose a lady this year as the chairperson of the conference to give the womenfolk a sense of belonging, since the event is their baby. That does not mean we have lost sight of the role our men play in our union.”
Nwokoro was optimistic that, with the expansion of their branches across Nigeria and the world in general, more women would in the future join the union.
The men were not left out as usual during this year’s August Conference.
Harrison Eze Okorie, president-general, AIWU, was proud of the women, whom he praised for their developmental strides.
He said: “We are proud of our womenfolk for all they have been doing for the development of our homeland.”
He was emphatic that, but for the women, Amaokwe Item would not have taken the shape it has taken in terms of development, and urged them not to relent.
He promised that the menfolk would continue in no small way to encourage and render assistance to the women to continue their good deeds.
Chief Kesandu Uko, a prominent son of the area and husband of the national president of AIWA-WW, said the women of Amaokwe Item have placed the community on the world map through their efforts.
Mentioning many of the projects the women had embarked upon in recent years, Uko said it was in Amaokwe Item that women could give men a good run for their money in community development.
He commended his wife for the quality leadership she has offered women of the community for the past two years since she was elected national president and promised to continue to support her to excel.
“They used to say, ‘for every successful man, there is a woman’, but here I will say ‘for every successful woman, there is a man.'”
Traditional rulers equally graced the event. The royal father of the day, Eze Chile Igwe Ogo, while giving his royal blessings, thanked the women for all their efforts in the development of the community.
Eze Ogo called on all women in Amaokwe Item who were not yet members of the union to join without hesitation as it was the wheel that drives progress in the community.
Highlights of this year’s event were food display competition, won by Abakiliki branch, while Port Harcourt branch came second and the third position went to Okigwe branch. In the march past competition, Aba branch came first, followed by Home branch, while the third position went to Lagos branch.
In drama competition, first position went to Abuja, the second and third positions went to Umuahia and Lagos branches, respectively.
