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By Henry Uche, Lagos
The Women Wing of Christian Council Of Nigeria (Lagos Chapter) has charged women in the State to stand tall like the biblical queen Esther by taking daring but wise decisions in the face of every challenge they are facing in life.
At their 2021 convention held in Lagos, they also encouraged women, particularly widows and indigent ones among them not to accept any derogatory or dehumanizing offer presented to them by anybody in their quest to survive, instead, they should challenge God and hold on to Him as their source and resource in all conditions.
According to them, women has suffered untold inhuman treatments from society especially from ‘some men’ who exploit them in the name of helping them (women) financially or otherwise.
‘We understand perfectly what women pass through just to survive especially widows. They have been subjected to series of disgusting conditions by the rich in society. Such women know that what they do most times ‘just to survive’ are unacceptable before God and man but they feel they have no option/ alternative, even the oppressors know they are doing wickedness, howbeit; we are telling our fellow women not to give up,’ the Chairperson of the chapter, Gloria Iwuamadi, said.
On her part, the convener of the convention, elder Itohan Winnie Chekwas-Anaga, admonished women to make decisions that would challenge the Almighty God like the biblical queen Esther did and says, ‘if I Perish I Perish, howbeit, they should work like the biblical Ruth and never be daunted’, saying ‘our Redeemer lives, we must be encouraged. God loves it when we challenge Him with His Words – He will most definitely intervene, so whatever our hands find doing, we must do it diligently, and God will not shame us.
‘Our theme of this year convention is, ‘The Unstoppable Woman In A Perverse World’, so, we are not just preaching to ourselves, we are taking practical steps to empower these fellows in different skills acquisition where they learn detergents making, and other craft making as well as financial business support. We also offer scholarships to students (each from our different denominations) and other material help to ameliorate the plights of women across denominations.’
She called on the federal and state governments to do everything possible to protect the interest of women and the girl child in the country saying that, “We don’t belong to the kitchen we have potential, we can achieve any feat in life. We are changing the narrative by teaching and empowering our girl child to be responsible, resourceful, enterprising and Industrious,’ she affirmed.
Delivering a message, the President, Christian Council Of Nigeria, Rev. Fubara Benebo Manuel charged women to support their fellow women on all fronts and resist any form of intimidation from anyone in the society.
Manuel decried that women are the ones stopping themselves by their attitude towards their fellow women. ‘Unfortunately most women keep men friends and support men both in Politics and other fronts. You must not follow the ugly trends. Don’t be an obstacle to your fellow women. You must desist from such acts.’
He charged men to give women their due positions/place both in the family and in the larger society, saying that women’s roles in the socio-economic development of a country are enormous and men cannot entirely succeed without the inputs of women.
