Obiano, Abubakar, Dickson, Ambode’s Wives, Others Nominated for 2017 Most Valuable Governor’s Wife Award

Adedayo Akinwale

The first lady of Anambra State, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano; her Bauchi State counterpart, Hadiza Abubakar; Rachael Dickson of Bayelsa State as well as wives of the Governors of Kebbi and Lagos States , Mrs. Zainab Bangudu and Mrs. Bolanle Ambode respectively have all been nominated for the 2017 Most Valuable Governor’s wife Award (MVGWA).

The Chairperson of MVGWA, Dr. Bilikisu Magoro, while addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja, said the award which was the third in the series was designed to lead a new phenomenon in the assessment and recognition of the governors’ wives who are providing complementary achievements to the governors’ achievement.

She stressed that the award is scheduled to take place on February 28, 2017, with the theme; ‘The Roles of the Governors’ Wives NGOs in Helping the Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria’.

According to her, “The 36 governors’ wives and the wife of the FCT minister are assessed based on their projects availabile in the public domain and their impacts on their beneficiaries.”

She added that “the governors’ wives shortlist comes from impact of their projects experienced by the beneficiaries in their various area with the assessment team of the MVGWA, as well as adopting this criteria-sustainability, empowerment, impact, change agent and corporate branding (SEICC), according to global best practices.”

Magoro noted that Mrs. Obiano who is the founder of the Caring Enhancement Initiative (CAFE) was nominated for taking care of 40 mentally challenged persons who were treated and discharged while Mrs. Abubakar, founder of Bauchi State Women Economic Empowerment and Peace Initiative (B-SWEEP), was nominated for continuous presence at the plight of the IDPs.

Also, Mrs. Dickson, founder of Friday Konyefa Foundation (FKF), was nominated for curbing early exposure of Ijaw girls to expatriate and Mrs. Bangundu, founder, Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MFC), was nominated for walking away cancer.

The chairperson of the project said the first lady of Nassarawa State, Hajia Mairo Al-Makura, founder Tallafi Women and Young Foundation, was also nominated for providing incubators to hospitals in the state.

Other awardees include first ladies of Lagos, Oyo and Niger States.