First ladies still relevant in women empowerment – Mrs Bagudu

In spite of complaints over the constitutional role of first ladies in Nigeria, they are still relevant in empowering women, the Chief Executive Officer of Medic Aid and wife of the Kebbi State Governor, Hajiya Zainab Bagudu, has said.
She was speaking during a panel discussion at the first Daily Trust Women Summit/Exhibition and launch of Woman of Power magazine in Abuja yesterday.
The event was organised by Media Trust Limited, publishers of the Daily Trust titles, in partnership with Octlan & Mayfun, to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.
She said first ladies at all levels had been using their positions to impact on the lives of vulnerable women and children in their states and immediate communities.
She said for example that she had been able to empower Kebbi women through her pet projects.
She urged government at all levels to make the International Women’s Day a national holiday, as that  would give all stakeholders the opportunity to go to the grassroots and reach out to women who according to her,  should be the main focus of empowerment and emancipation programmes and projects.
While noting that women cannot achieve equity without involving men, she called for the creation of bodies to regulate  preaching by religious leaders, saying only then  can cultural beliefs be sieved from religious tenets.