World Women Day: Senator Akpan calls for women integration into nation-building

Ini Billie, Uyo

A senator representing Akwa Ibom North East in the National Assembly, Bassey Akpan has called for the inclusion of women in nation-building.

Akpan who declared his intention to contest the gubernatorial election in 2023 under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday said Nigeria would not make speedy progress unless aspects of the women’s role in nation-building are incorporated into the nation’s psyche.

Speaking on Tuesday in Uyo to mark International Women’s Day, the Senate Committee Chairman on Petroleum (Upstream) said for faster societal growth, women must not be ignored.

He saluted Akwa Ibom women and others across the country for their resilience in the face of social odds, noting that his belief in the potential of women led him to institute programmes targeted at improving their skills to foster greater national advantage.

He promised to continue to empower and promote women’s social and economic standing in society and called for more sensitisation towards effective education and proper training of women in ICT and vocational skills.

“In the past few years, we have done our best to empower our women through human capital development programmes like skills acquisition as well as start-ups for small scale businesses.

“I intend to do more as we move our partnership a step further. To this end, I urge all our women delegates to take their destinies in their hands by voting for me in the upcoming party primary,” he stated.

This year’s International Women’s Day celebration is focused on “gender equality for sustainable tomorrow.”