Nearly 400 women in Abuja participated in a pivotal one-day empowerment training this Saturday, organised by the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society as part of their ongoing Ramadan lecture series.
The event underscored the profound impact of female empowerment on families, communities, and national development, offering practical strategies and inspiring calls to action.
Hajiya Maimuna Musa Adaji from the National Productivity Centre, the lead resource person, delivered a compelling address on the multifaceted nature of empowerment.
If you empower a woman, you empower a family. If you empower one family, you have empowered the nation,” she declared, setting a tone focused on holistic growth. Adaji emphasised the importance of making women “financially equipped, intentionally structured, and strategically empowered.”
This, she explained, necessitates providing access to opportunities, fostering decision-making powers, equipping them with essential skills and knowledge, and ensuring they have a voice and representation.
Adaji outlined five crucial strategies for sustainable empowerment initiatives: economic orientation, education and skills, leadership and civic education, health and social protection, and value and identification.
She cautioned against superficial empowerment programmes, highlighting the critical need for follow-ups, monitoring, and mentorship to ensure lasting impact. “If you structure that empowerment process with an initiative in such a way that you do follow-ups, you do monitoring, and then you now make sure that you encourage mentoring, the women will be better for it,” she asserted.
The tangible benefits, she added, include reduced poverty, increased education, improved family health, stronger communities, and enhanced national development.
Hajiya Habiba Ahmed, Coordinator of the programme and Director of Endowment and Empowerment at Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, echoed these sentiments, drawing on Islamic teachings.
“Our Prophet said, if you educate a woman, you educate a nation,” she quoted, underscoring the pivotal role of an empowered woman in nurturing an informed and capable family.
Ahmed highlighted the challenges families face when women lack educational, social, and economic empowerment, particularly in times of a husband’s incapacitation or absence.
She stressed that an empowered woman can effectively balance family responsibilities with professional or entrepreneurial pursuits, guiding her children towards dignity and self-worth. “If poverty is eradicated, insurgencies will go,” Ahmed passionately stated, linking female empowerment to broader societal stability and the prevention of youth involvement in illicit activities.
Dr. Rakiya Momo, a director at Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, further elaborated on the diverse avenues of empowerment, extending beyond mere financial provision. She underscored the importance of health awareness and the continuous pursuit of knowledge as vital forms of empowerment.
Dr. Momo highlighted Al-Habibiyyah’s practical initiatives, including providing small, revolving loans and facilitating access to banking services and guarantees for women seeking to establish or expand their trades.
“The whole idea is to instill in them the attitude to know that you have something you can do. You have something you can happen to make a living,” Dr. Momo concluded, encouraging women to actively seek pathways to self-sufficiency rather than succumbing to feelings of helplessness.
The overwhelming attendance of approximately 400 women underscored the pressing need and keen interest in such empowering initiatives within the community.
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