Accolades have continued to pour in for the Speaker, Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji and Members of the 7^th Abia State House of Assembly. This time, the accolade came from the highest office in the land, The Presidency.

This follows the passage of The Abians in Diaspora Commission Law which makes Abia State House of Assembly, the first State House of Assembly, and the State as a whole, to have such a law.

This did not go unnoticed at the Presidency as Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), took to her official Twitter handle to congratulate the Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu and the Abia State House of Assembly on the rare feat.

“Abia State makes history as the first state to have a state commission on diaspora with the passing today of the Abians in Diaspora Commission Law. Big gratitude to the Parliament, (and) His Excellency the Governor”, she tweeted.

Commercial operations at the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos Free Zone (LFZ) will begin in the first quarter of 2023, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, got the assurance from Tolaram Group - the frontline investor handling the project.

The Governor and members of the State’s cabinet are currently on a two-day working tour of the three free trade zones established in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos.

The port, which is being constructed by China Habour Engineering firm, is occupying 90 hectares in the entire 830 hectares of land carved out for the Lagos Free Zone, created in 2012 to enhance economic position of Lagos as manufacturing and logistics hub in West Africa.

The first phase of the seaport project, which is being financed by $629 million facility from China Development Bank (CDB), is at 48 per cent completion.

After going through the project master plan, Sanwo-Olu said his administration remained committed to delivering project, stressing that the deep seaport and other investments happening in the corridor had the potential to increase the State’s GDP in multiple folds.

He said: “Given the report I got and what I have seen here, I can say that Lagos Free Zone has made tremendous improvement. We have seen the level of partnership Tolaram Group is bringing in terms of international investment and local brands on this corridor.

“I commend all stakeholders that are with us on this journey we have found ourselves. With the level of work we have seen, I’m truly excited. It is more gratifying that, we are taking up this assignment with all energies required and we all can see what we can achieve when we work together.

“Since we signed a loan agreement less than 18 months ago, we have demonstrated strong capability in bringing the project to reality. This is the first quarter of 2021 and we have seen the project in about 48 per cent completion. The investors have given us the commitment on first quarter of 2023 completion date. We will fulfill all our parts to make sure this date becomes reality.”

Sanwo-Olu, who noted that he had been part of the conversation for the development of the free zones as a Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in 2006, said his administration had recorded significant progress in bringing the projects to reality.

The Governor said the priority accorded to the construction of complementary infrastructure projects along the corridor was a demonstration of his Government’s fulfillment of its pledge to Lagos residents. He promised the State would work with the timeline to ensure all projects mapped out in the zones are deliver.

Sanwo-Olu said the size of the deep seaport will allow 18,000 TEU capacity vessels, which are four times bigger than the ones berthing at Apapa seaports, thereby scaling down the cost of container transportation from any part of the world.

He said: “The interesting part is that, our youths and young women will be the beneficiaries of this project. The project managers have engaged large number of our citizens in the construction parts of the work; all personnel are not expatriates. All the technical work and technology deployed have local component to it.

“For us a Government, this is the strongest point we have made with the project. I am fully convinced that the delivery of this project will transform commercial architecture of West Africa and bring about quick turnaround time in maritime sector.”

When it is completed, the deep seaport is expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa.

Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Free Zone, Mr. Dinesh Rathi, said Tolaram Group, a Singaporean coy, initiated a $2 billion investment in the Lagos Free Zone, out of which the investor committed $950 million to developing manufacturing hub in the zone.

When the deep seaport is completed, Rathi said the maritime project was expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and would serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa.

Chairman of Lagos Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Biodun Dabiri, hailed the State Government for its commitment towards changing face of commerce in Africa, stressing that all statutory permits, licences and endorsement for the Lekki port project were already secured.

“There is strong guarantee that the port will be delivered before time, going by the inflow of capital investment and technical services,” Dabiri said.

The Governor and his entourage also visited Africa’s second largest manufacturing plant of Kellogg Tolaram, manufacturer of cornflakes, which is built in Lagos Free Zone. The Governor toured the processing unit of the firm and inspected the production chain.

Also joining the Government’s team in the tour are the Chief Executive Officer of Lekki Freeport LFZ, Mr Du Ruogang, and Head of Marketing for LFZ, Ms. Chinju Udora, among others.

L-R: Deputy Managing Director, Lekki Free Zone Development Company (LFZDC), Mr. Emmanuel Balogun; Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Managing Director of LFZDC, Mr. Huang Xigong; Executive Director, Finance & Administration, Mrs. Yemi Olusunya; Assistant General Manager, Stakeholders’ Management, Mr. Emmanuel Aguda and Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone at Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.

R-L: Managing Director, Lekki Port, Mr. Du Ruogang; Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande; Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce & Industry, Mr. Oladele Ajayi; Commissioners for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako and others during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.

Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, pointing to a place of interest on the Lekki Port architectural presentation board during his working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.

Despite all the sterling achievements of women in male dominated circles, being recognised and celebrated on the International Women’s Day, the goal of achieving gender parity still remains a contentious global issue with marginalisation and exclusion of women and girls as well as the many shades of women abuse very much with us, making the day also, a call to action in making people aware of women’s rights, safety and the urgent need to find consensus in fighting against the many forms of abuse and harassment.

For the Fateemah Aduke Mohammed Ogunkola (FAMO) Foundation, the occasion of the International Women’s Day was used to host the 2021 international Women’s Conference at the K & M Events Center in new Oko-Oba, Ifako-Ijaiye in Lagos, where women who beat the odds against them to achieve success were celebrated, and women excelling in supposedly male professions were recognised and awarded. Among these were a female carpenter, a female barber, a female vulcanizer and a female disc jockey, all of whom have provided opportunities for other women to be mentally and financially liberated.

The highpoint of the day was the empowerment of over 300 women through a raffle draw where many carted home different electrical and cooking appliances including deep freezers, refrigerators, dinner sets, grinding machines, hair-dressing appliances etc., while different clothing materials were also distributed to every woman present.

Several of the women who had achieved extraordinary feats spoke, encouraging women everywhere to refuse to be limited and begin to move in the direction of fulfilling their full potentials.

Speaking about the essence of the day, the challenges faced by women and success in that direction so far, founder of FAMO Foundation, Fateemah Aduke Mohammed Ogunkola averred;

“I think it has shifted from what it used to be. We had a low level of women inclusion at whatever terrain but right now it is getting better. The theme for this year is a major push. More and more women are becoming more assertive. A lot of women are beginning to recognise their place in the scheme of things, so it’s better than it ever used to be.”

Reacting to the UN report that over 2.7bn women are legally restricted from choice jobs readily available to men, Mohammed disclosed;

“Today we are celebrating women who are excelling in supposedly male professions. I’d like us to change our perspectives and mindset as women. There’s no job that is a man’s job. Every job that can put food on the table and meet one’s needs should just get done. I love women who can dare where men are threatened. It is not competition or equality. I don’t believe in equality, I believe in equity. Equity is fair and just. The truth is the jobs are not even there for the men. So it’s time for us to have a rethink and start being self-employed and self sufficient.”

Considering the fact that some of the legal restrictions on women border on religion, Mohammed explained thus;

“It must come to a point where we break barriers whether, religious, traditional or gender; everything that inhibits us. I come from the North where women are not being seen or even heard. But things are changing with the times. There’s an evolvement and it’s getting better.”

In what could be done to make women more inclusive in governance and decision making processes, Mohammed said that was what they were doing at the moment.

“We’re creating awareness which is key, reaching out to people in their own languages. They are becoming more concious of themselves. So we’ll continue to create this awareness and get women more involved in every sphere of endeavor.”

A woman with a passion to cushion to effects of poverty, Mohammed gives out palliatives to the poor and needy often-times yearly both as a person and also with her foundation, which comes at a great financial cost to her, for which she admits she has no choice.

A strong politician, unrelenting in her pursuit of using the commonwealth for the common good, Fateemah Aduke Mohammed Ogunkola was very clear about this which is why she is a politician in the first place.

“For different people, politics means different things. For some it is to appropriate the common wealth for themselves. For me, politics is about touching lives, it is about changing the status quo. Basically that is my motive.”

The FAMO (an acronym of her name- Fateemah Aduke Mohammed Ogunkola) Foundation has been touching lives every year with outreach programmes, humanitarian services, free health checks, mitigating the plight of the less privileged in society while empowering people, children, widows and women.

According to Mohammed, “I believe every woman should be able to afford at least one dollar per day. I love to tell women they can assert themselves, lend themselves a voice and don’t wait to be pushed. The theme for this year is apt and I’m challenging the status quo, I am challenging everything that limits me as a woman.”

Fateemah Aduke Mohammed Ogunkola had a strong parting shot for women as the day gradually came to an end.

“Women get involved. Change the status quo. We can be president. I say it all the time that I will become the first female Vice President of this country by the grace of God.”