Aisha Buhari to declare 2019 COWLSO national conference open

As body launches endowment fund

The 2019 edition of the National Women’s Conference, organised by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), will be declared open on Tuesday 22 through 24 of October by wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari.

Rejection of exported products abroad due to poor packaging-NEPC

Over 3,000 participants are expected at the conference as against the 2,500 drawn last year.

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Wife of the Lagos State governor, Dr. (Mrs) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, made the disclosure in a pre-conference press briefing at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre at Alausa, Ikeja.

Other dignitaries expected at the event are: Kwara Governor AbdulRahmon AbdulRazaq as Special Guest of Honour at the opening ceremony and Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, as Special Guest of Honour at the closing ceremony.

The theme of this year’s conference is: ‘Unlearn, Learn and Relearn: 21st Century Women’s T.H.E.M.E.S perspectives/approach’.

Dr. Sanwo-Olu said: “As it is the tradition of the conference to strategically empower women to contribute positively to the development of the state and Nigeria at large, this year’s theme was carefully selected in line with the vision and aspiration of the present administration in Lagos State to bring about greater Lagos of our dreams.”

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The governor’s wife said the theme is designed to re-orientate the people to do away with wrong habits, to begin to do the right thing by learning some new ideas “we are talking of totally overhauling of the people, to keep on teaching and re-orientating the people.”

She said eminent Nigerians and outstanding professionals have been lined up “to help our women come to terms with how best they can key into the emerging opportunities being provided by the government of the day in Lagos.”

Although the conference is slated for 22nd – 24th October, Dr. Sanwo-Olu said activities marking the yearly event which commenced with the press briefing will include other noteworthy events.

The conference, as usual, will feature lectures, dinner/gala night, inspirational woman of the year award, certificate of appreciation etc.

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In a related development, COWLSO has said that plans are underway to launch an Endowment Fund to defray the cost of pediatric surgeries for needy babies of Ayinke House of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to LASUTH as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the Committee, Dr (Mrs) Sanwo-Olu, who is the Chairman of the Committee, said it was important to make the right investment in healthcare delivery to play up the health of the people, and also support the needy.

She said the present administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had already identified healthcare as a major sector to be massively supported in line with efforts to ensure a greater Lagos.

According to her, “We decided to do our CSR here; this is Ayinke House in LASUTH. We are hoping that we would send the message down to the people that there is need for us to invest in our patients, as well as invest in our doctors and nurses so that they can deliver good healthcare to our people in Lagos State which is one of the key pillars of the development agenda of the government of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for a greater Lagos.

“We have come here and we have identified something we can take up as our project and that is endowment fund for the Pediatric Surgeries that are being done here. Already, the Lagos State government is doing 0-12 free healthcare for children, but we need to also partner with them to do endowment fund and encourage a lot of people to also partner with us.”

The First Lady, accompanied by the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluremi Hamzat and hundreds of COWLSO members, also embarked on ‘Awareness Walk’ from LASUTH to Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja, as part of efforts to further inform residents on the forthcoming National Women Conference of the body