Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has pledged to support women entrepreneurs, especially those in the rural areas who produce the food the people eat and power rural economies, and who, he said, remain among the most neglected by government.
Mr. Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, gave the assurance following his visit to members of the Akpu Sellers Association at their markets in Sheda and Sheda Galadima, within the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, on the occasion of the International Day of Rural Women celebrated on October 15 globally.
While on the visit, he said in an X post, he discovered that children of school age in the FCT were in the market environs during school hours because their teachers were on strike. He, therefore, called on the relevant authorities to “immediately ensure that our children in public schools return to school in the FCT.”
Obi’s tweets regarding his interactions with the school age children and the rural women read:
Honouring Nigeria’s Rural Women on Their International Day
Today, October 15th, is globally dedicated to honouring rural women. In recognition of their contributions, I set out early this morning to spend time with members of the Akpu Sellers Association at their markets in Sheda and Sheda Galadima, within the Kwali Area Council of the FCT, to gain a firsthand understanding of their lives and daily experiences.
During our discussion, they expressed concerns about worsening hardship, declining business patronage, severely insufficient water supply, and the need for microcredit to strengthen their businesses. I assured them that our government remains committed to supporting them, all rural women, and indeed, all Nigerians.
Supporting their enterprises will be one of our priorities because it is essential to my central commitment to lifting our people out of poverty. I sincerely honour the millions of Nigerian women in rural communities who cultivate our land, produce our food, sustain our families, and power rural economies, yet remain among those most neglected by government. They continue to endure hardship, insecurity, rising poverty, limited access to credit, and inadequate healthcare.
My solidarity with rural women demonstrates my commitment to building a Nigeria where those who sustain our nation are empowered to prosper, rural communities receive the investments they rightly deserve, and no woman is deprived of opportunity because of her place of residence.
A New Nigeria must support rural women.
I commend our women for their resilience amid severe economic pressures caused by poor government policies, incompetence, and the outright mismanagement of our national resources.
A New Nigeria is POssible, and will be OK. -PO
Education Is the Foundation of a New Nigeria
Education remains the most important tool for development and nation-building. It has been proven that the more educated a nation is, the better it develops. It has also been proven that the developing and developed nations of today are those that have invested in education, healthcare and pulling people out of poverty.
Nigeria’s increasing poverty remains a consequence of not investing adequately in critical areas of development, especially education.
Today, while observing the International Day of Rural Women, I visited Sheda and Sheda Galadima, in Kwali Area Council of FCT, where I was surprised to see a huge number of school-age children in the market environs on a school day.
In my conversation with the children, I was deeply shocked to learn that they had been at home for over two weeks due to the teachers’ strike.
So, while we are busy inaugurating campaign councils with pomp and pageantry and declaring economic miracles, our young children of school age are loitering in the streets because of a strike, in a nation with already over 18 million out-of-school children.
It is time to put our children and the future of our country back at the centre of governance and government decisions. Under our leadership, investment in health and education, as well as pulling people out of poverty, will be our priorities.
The relevant authorities should immediately ensure that our children in public schools return to school in the FCT. A New Nigeria is POssible, and Nigeria will be OK. -PO
