BY EVELYN ZORZOR
IT was a joyous moment for wives of traditional rulers and several market women in Delta State, yesterday as wife of the Governor and founder, You Matter Charity Foundation, Deaconness Tobore Oborevwori hosted them to an End of Year banquet at Government House, Asaba.
According to the First Lady, the get-together was organized in a bid to fulfil her promises of not just engaging the women of the state only during electioneering campaigns.
While it was the first time the wife of the Governor was interfacing with the wives of the traditional rules, she had in the past year, hosted market women in the state.
In her address, she appreciated the presence of the Royal Mothers while acknowledging their various roles in ensuring peace in their different communities.
“I thank God for giving us this privilege to celebrate this end of year, the beauty of today’s event is that I am meeting with the Queens for the first time and their presence has added color to this event.
“For the market women, the first time we met, we established a relationship which by the grace of God has come to stay.
“ In the course of this year, we reached out to one thousand petty traders in the state. This was made possible by our mother, Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu with the support of our Governor, His Excellency, Rt. Hon Sheriff Oborevwori.
“ This is to let you know that you truly mean a lot to this administration, We hope for a batter deal in the years to come”, she noted.
The wife of the Governor also extended her appreciation to the coordinator of the Market Women Association, Mrs. Kate Onah, and her team for carefully selecting the beneficiaries from all the markets in the state, especially as the traders were randomly picked.
In her address earlier in the event, the wife of the Deputy Governor, Ezinne Catherine Onyeme acknowledge that the presence of the women signified their confidence in the leadership of the First Lady.
According to her, “Her Excellency is a woman of great vision and purpose, whose passion for bridging the gap between government and women is truly inspiring.
She further admonished the women to remain steadfast in contributing their quota to the growth of the state.
A total of 250 market women were drawn from across the 25 local government areas.
Both the Royal Mothers and market women received Christmas gift items and cash gifts from the wife of the Governor and they had a lot to eat and drink.
A high point in the event was when the wife of the Governor pledged to support one of the traders who said her shop got burnt last week with her goods in it.
In a vote of thanks on behalf of the women, the president of the market women association in the state, Mrs. Kate Onah, expressed the gratitude of the women and how the gifts would go a long way.
