Combating Women Vulnerability To The Hiv/Aids Scourge
- By Super Admin
- Published 07/22/2008
- Speeches
- Unrated
PROTOCOL:
It is a great pleasure and indeed a rare honour to welcome Her Excellency, Hajiya Turai Umaru Yar’Adua, First Lady of the Federal Republic Nigeria to Lafia, the Headquarters of Nasarawa State, for the launching of the Zonal Chapter of National Women Coalition on HIV/AIDS (NAWOCA).
Your Excellency, we thank you immensely for the honour of bringing to us an illustrious visitor, Her Excellency, Madame Laraba Mamadou Tandja, First Lady of the Republic of Niger. Madame, we warmly welcome you to Nasarawa State.
Your Excellency ma, we recall that when you visited us in May 2008, with Her Excellency, Mrs. Maureen Mwanawasa, First Lady of the Republic of Zambia, to inspect the Women Initiative on Sex Education and Economic Empowerment in Karu, we requested you to grant us the honour of hosting you for the launching of the Zonal Chapter of National Women Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (NAWOCA). Today, we thank you collectively, for honouring this request and for being personally here with yet another great daughter of Africa.
I must also thank the Executive Governors of the States in the North Central Zone, for the support and inspiration they gave us in our efforts to ensure a successful launching of this chapter of NAWOCA.
Your Excellency will recall that in August 2007, during the national launching of NAWOCA, wives of State Executive Governors pledged to support your initiative with the launching of the Coalition at other levels of our society. Today’s event is, therefore, a fulfillment of the collective pledge we made at that occasion.
Your Excellency, in keeping with this spirit, it is my pleasure to inform you that on the 4th of July 2008, I launched the Nasarawa State Chapter of NAWOCA. With that launching, Nasarawa State is now set to join you in your bold, focused and determined programme of addressing the problems and neglect of women and girls who are victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
At this juncture ma, permit me to also inform you that in order to support your humanitarian work among women and girls, the Office of the wife of the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State has established a foundation known as Taimako Women Health Foundation. The main objective of the foundation is to address issues of diseases peculiar to women and girls. One of the projects of the foundation is the Taimako Screening Centre for breast and cervix cancer. I am delighted to state that this project, which is my modest contribution to the issues of women health, has the active support of the Government and people of Nasarawa State.
Your Excellency, I am glad that you have accepted our request to commission the Centre today.
It is also gratifying to note that the Nasarawa State Government is strengthening healthcare delivery with upgrading of 58 Primary Healthcare Clinics to modern multipurpose primary healthcare centres. It is our hope that these rural based centres will bring the desired healthcare delivery to the grassroots, especially to the womenfolk.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, permit me to once again thank Her Excellency, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hajiya Turai Umaru Yar’Adua and the First Lady of the Republic Niger, Her Excellency, Madame Laraba Mamadou Tandja for graciously availing us of their esteemed presence. We assure you that the women of the North-Central Zone shall continue to support the NAWOCA initiative by putting in place enduring structures for the attainment of the objectives of the Coalition.
In conclusion, I would like to express my appreciation to my colleagues, the Wives of the Governors of the North-Central Zone, the Wife of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Nigerians as a whole, for their support and cooperation in making the launching of our Zonal Chapter a success.
I thank you all for your attention.
