No fewer than 500 widows from the 18 local government areas of Cross River State received a bag of rice for the Christmas celebration from Mrs Imah Adegoke, the coordinator of The Imah NSA Foundation (TINAF).
The donation was to mark the 10th anniversary of the Foundation which has been celebrated by widows in the state.
Adegoke said in the next two years, they intend to embark on a massive education of the traditional rulers and widows on the existence of Female Person’s inheritance of Property Law.
“The Foundation will engage in tele-medicine to reach women in rural areas with internet access”, she further disclosed.
Speaking at the event, a former governor of the state, Mr Donald Duke disclosed that Nigeria shortchanges itself when it does not take care of women’s rights.
Duke seriously frowned at shaving widows’ hair or inflicting injuries on them at their husbands’ death.
“If I have my way, I will ensure that women are given priority in the society, this was why I signed the Cross River Female Person’s inheritance of Property Law 2007.
“Why should you shave a woman’s hair, ask her to lie on the floor and punish her after her husband dies when she is the one going through pain, yet we inflict further pain on her,” he said.
The former governor added that women were special, stressing that any family where the mother was educated, the home was always better.
Similarly, Alhassan Aminu, Cross River’s Commissioner of Police, encouraged the widows to learn a trade or a skill so that they could help themselves and others.