The MMS Women of Fortune Hall of Fame (WoFHoF) Initiative has said that it seek to raise the sum of ten million (N10, 000,000) in order to enable it touch the lives of disadvantaged and the less privileged Nigerians.
The founder of MMS WoFHoF Initiative, Mr. Kingsley Anaroke who made this known in a speech to mark the MMS Hall of Famers’ Day & Charity Night to mark the 2018 United Nations’ International Women’s Day in Lagos said that the initiative embarked on raising the fund because it believed that if one was to make a mark in gender inequality, such a person must begin by participation not by isolation.
In his words,” We have in totality, about N10 million we want to raise here tonight, if we can’t raise it here today, we raise it outside here but the fact remains that we must meet our target to be able to touch lives. So, that is exactly what we are doing here today and we are doing it because we believe in, if you are talking about changing or may be making a mark in gender inequality, we must begin by participation not by isolation. People must come out to say something, if you don’t have the voice, you have the money, if you don’t have the money, you have the action. These three things you must have one.
“I am happy people are here today to see what is happening, to see those who are blind, to see those who can’t walk and the rest of them. We want to be able to see, mentor people, touch lives and assist them, those who already have skills, see how to see that their skills add value to the society. We equip them, organize them, give them shops to be able to train other people and in doing that, they may train those who are not even disadvantaged physically but mentally and physically disadvantaged. At the end of the day, they will empower people; make money and all of that”.
He recalled that the month of March was earmarked as the International Women’s month, the reason they decided to organize the event to also appreciate their Hall of Famers adding that they had been inducting women into the Hall of Famers since 2012 and so, they felt there was the need for them to bring all the women under one umbrella to appreciate them.
“You see what is happening here, we have people who are disadvantaged in one way or the other, we want to be able to touch life. A lot of people think that what we do every year is an award; I keep telling them it is not award. We only recognize sterling accomplishments of women not an award. When you are recognized for what you have done, what you can do, give back to the society, that is what the induction to the Hall of Fame is all about and that is why we have assembled these women here.
“We are using one stone to kill birds; one is to celebrate the International Women’s Day, secondly for all the Hall of Famers to meet and thirdly, making a statement by way of charity, bringing funds for the disadvantaged people with which to reach out to them”, he added.
On her part, the Chairman of the occasion, Mrs. Kofo Olugbesan while recalling that the month of March every year was for women also congratulated all women that were at the event and women across the world even as he appreciate God for giving them another opportunity to celebrate the women.
She said,” I believe that why we are gathered here is for us to know each other. The Hall of Famers, we should know each other, we should support the programme, the mentorship programme is a very laudable one and I am calling on all the Hall of Famers including myself to give our best to this programme in any way we can by supporting this laudable objective to see what we can do to bring women up.
“I thank the organizers for putting this together because it is very valid we are giving back to the society that made us. In the short video that we had, I mentioned that it is by grace not by deed that we are where we are today. I mean, I know that by myself, it is by his grace and anybody could be there and to see that you can help other women to achieve their dream is the issue that we need to look into especially those of us by his grace that have the opportunity to be where we are today”.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Ship Owners Forum, Barr. Mrs. Margaret Onyema Orakwusi encouraged the women to out and get their voters’ card ready for them to vote for women in the 2019 general election in order for them to make the desired change in the society.
Orakwusi however decried the attitude of women who work against their fellow women even as she admonished them to change and support the women as according to her,”because we have a lot in common; we are mothers, we are wives and we believe in achievement. So, we should actually encourage ourselves”.
She continued,” We don’t have any other country; we are mothers of Nigeria and write a good future for our children. So, we need to ensure that and make that to come to be by our participation in politics because we need to see more women out there because if you look in the hands of the regular people, poor policies, poor implementation and a lot of greed come to play.
“We are more concerned about the welfare of our children, of the home but men keep acquiring. We have seen some people in this country own more than 20 houses and yet, they cannot account for the office that they held. This is not what we want for our children. I want women to come on board and show that three meals a day are enough for one person. So, we can join hands and build a nation that we can be proud of, a nation ruled by equity, fair play and justice”.
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