Women and youths from different
organizations yesterday staged a peaceful demonstration in support of
the proposed N4 billion African First Ladies Peace Mission Secretariat
in Abuja.
The
groups, numbering over 3,000 carried placards with various inscriptions
such as “Abuja has come to stay; FCT is Working; Nigerian Women Support
African First Ladies Peace Mission; Young Women Entrepreneurs Support
African Peace Mission.’’
The women embarked on a protest match
from Women Development Centre, Abuja through Tafawa Balewa Way and later
submitted a letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory,
Senator Bala Mohammed for onward submission to President Goodluck
Jonathan. Speaking at the occasion, Nancy Godwin Bulus, President
National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), explained the rationale
behind the protest, stressing that it was meant to drum support for the
building of the African First Ladies Peace Mission Secretariat in Abuja.
According
to her, it is a “unique project, which all Nigerian women want. We are
appealing to the National Assembly to approve the budget for the
project. It is an honour to have the project situated in Nigeria and all
Nigerian women and children stand to benefit a lot from it,” she said.
In their separate remarks at the occasion, Mrs. Uchenna Adekunle, Mrs.
Felicia Sani and Murtala Mohammed Tanko, Leaders of Hairdressers and
Barbers Association of Nigeria, Market Women Association and Youths
Association in Gwagwa, FCT, respectively, expressed support for the
choice of Abuja as the host of the Peace Mission Secretariat, pointing
out that the First Lady, Dame Jonathan will not take the building to
Bayelsa after leaving office.
“Anything that concerns women in
this country is always treated with kid gloves, it is not fair. The Act
that created FCDA mandates it to erect public buildings on behalf of the
Federal Government for use by all ministries, departments and agencies.
FCDA built Women Development Centre, National Hospital and others; so,
why must African First Ladies Peace Mission House be different?” one of
the leaders asked.
Addressing the protesters, FCT Minister Senator
Bala Mohammed, who said that he had to be excused from the Federal
Executive Council meeting at the Aso Villa to receive the group,
expressed appreciation for their orderly conduct, just as he assured
them that the Jonathan administration was not working for the
‘‘egocentric, academic and other opposition politicians who used jargons
to deceive and delude Nigerians.’’
The Prototype Of First Lady Patience Jonathan's N4 Billion "Mission House"
The Prototype of the controversial Peace Mission Center of the First
Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan which is N4 billion in the 2013 budget for
Federal Capital Territory Abuja
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