The Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), in line with the pet project of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, tagged 'Nigerian Women for Change Initiative,' has empowered women in 20 of its host communities with the aim of eliminating poverty among women in Delta State.Speaking at the opening ceremony of a women empowerment workshop organized by the NGC for its host communities in Delta State,recently, the Managing Director, NGC, Mr Saidu A. Mohammed, said the company will continuously within the limit of its budgetary resources, strive to uphold and strengthen the existing relationship with its host communities. Mohammed said the decision of the company to organize the workshop for the women was to empower the women in their host communities in Delta State and also make them more self sufficient in all facet of their lives.He said: 'NGC has decided to ride on the heels of the pet project of the Firsst Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, tagged 'Nigerian Women for Change Initiative,' which was launched on July 16, 2011, aimed at empowering women economically and politically and eliminating those cultural traits that have not projected Nigerian women into limelight.'The NGC managing director, therefore, implored the beneficiaries of the workshop to take the workshop seriously as it served as an open opportunity for them to equip themselves with various skills with the hope that they will be of immense benefit and it could change their lives more positively.'NGC is a socially responsible organization whose community relations philosophy sees our host communities as partners and desire that they buy into our business opportunities. NGC as a company believes in the development of its host communities,' Mohammed further said.Also speaking at the occasion, the Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Millennium Development goals, Hon. Stella Okotete, said the wife of the state governor, Mrs Roli Uduaghan, was passionate about women empowerment in the state and that she would put all things in place to ensure that women in the state are adequately taken care of.Hon. Okotete who thanked NGC for organising the workshop for the women, added that the state governor has ordered that 35 per cent of the representatives of the state executive council should be women.Commissioner for Women Affairs, Delta State, Mrs Betty Efekoda, represented by her Special Assistant, Mrs Isoke Igbudo, who urged the women to take the workshop seriously, however, called on NGC to make the workshop programme to come up on quarterly basis.Mrs. Efekoda also urged the women not to allow negativity to overcome their determination to be somebody in the society, adding that the workshop was an opportunity for them to become employers of other people in their various communities.She blamed the rising unemployment in the state on the inability of the youths and women to acquire vocational skills, just as she stressed that skill was very important for the growth of any nation.The Commissioner for Women Affairs also lamented that the character of people in the state was also a contributing factor in the increase of unemployment in the Niger Delta area as she said most people in the area did not want to work.Briefing the participants at the occasion, the Managing Director, ACE Concerns Ltd, Mrs. Naomi Ikhuriebge, a consultant to NGC, said the women will be trained in five categories; catering, salon, computer appreciation, decoration, fashion and design.She also encouraged the women to make up their mind and work hard and not to give up hope as the workshop was an opportunity for them to go places.
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