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By Christopher Oji
The Police Officers’ Wives’ Association (POWA), yesterday, in Lagos, empowered 300 vulnerable members and widows across the 36 states of the federation.
This gesture was extended during the second segment of its national convention at Onikan Stadium, Lagos State.
The exercise focused on a robust empowerment programme for widows of fallen officers and wives of junior police personnel. The event, which drew beneficiaries from across the country, highlighted POWA’s commitment to fostering self-sufficiency within the police community.
During the event, POWA president, Mrs. Elizabeth Egbetokun, disclosed that the association regularly conducts such empowerment initiatives up to three or four times a year, depending on their various activities like Children’s Day, Women’s Day and other celebrations in Nigeria.
Egbetokun explained that the primary beneficiaries are widows of police officers, who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty. Additionally, the programme supports the wives of junior-ranking officers whose husbands may not be earning substantial salaries. “We try to help them so that the women can have something,” she stated.
She emphasized the goal to provide them with resources to start businesses or essential food items for sustenance.
The empowerment includes: business startup kits, with a monitoring system in place. Egbetokun noted that chairpersons from each state, typically the wives of the respective commissioners of police, follow up with beneficiaries to ensure the proper utilization of the distributed items.
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Highlighting POWA’s extensive reach, Egbetokun presented a compelling scorecard of POWA’s initiatives: “We have visited over 16 states of the federation, to mention but a few, Anambra, Delta, Bauchi, Abia, Ogun and Lagos,” she stated.
During these visits, POWA distributed a range of skill acquisition items, including grinding machines, sewing machines, bubble hairdressing equipment, cooking gas, and wheelchairs, alongside essential food items.
A significant recent development is the inauguration of two POWA model schools, one at Pape Barracks in Abuja and another soon to open in Bauchi State, specifically for children of police officers and the wider community.
She encouraged all selected beneficiaries to participate in an orderly manner and urged them to make effective use of the items received.
“Unlocking one’s potential is a journey that requires continuous self-improvement, growth and transformation,” she said, aligning with her three-point agenda of Education for Development, Quality Healthcare Delivery, and Better Life for All.
One the beneficiaries, from Edo State, Mrs. Victor Neji, said she was happy with the gift of a deep freezer, which she would use in her business, “I feel very happy. I feel very happy to join the family of POWA. God will bless them. God will bless everybody. God will bless the police association. God will bless the police. God will bless even my husband for joining the police and for making me to have this opportunity to win this item, this deep freezer. If not for my husband, I wouldn’t have been here.
“I just give all the thanks to God who made it possible for me to reach here. I give God the glory. I thank mummy, the POWA president, the POWA women, I thank them.”
