By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—WIFE of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan, yesterday donated assorted skills acquisition equipment to over 1,000 widows in the state.

Addressing the widows before distribution of the items, Minister of State 1, Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri, who also represented the President’s wife, said Dame Jonathan was interested in making widows economically independent.

The items doled out to Imo widows included several units of sewing machines, scores of hair driers, electric generating machines, grinding machines, cartons of soap, several bundles of textile materials, about 1,000 bags of rice, insecticide treated mosquito nets and bags of salt.

“The gesture was part of the measures initiated by the President’s wife to alleviate poverty among widows, especially those in the rural communities,” Onwuliri said.

She described Dame Jonathan as “a compassionate mother, committed to championing the cause of women in Nigeria”.

After enumerating some of the projects executed by the Federal Government in the state, Professor Onwuliri noted that government had mobilised the contracting firm handling the ever busy Owerri-Elele-Port Harcourt dual carriage  way.

Similarly, State Coordinator, Women for Change and Development Initiative, Dr Gloria Chukwukere, commended the wife of the President for positively touching lives through her pet project.

“Never before have we seen or noted this level of empowerment of widows in the state. The President’s wife has provided Medicare for children and scholarship for the needy and a lot of other goodies,” Chukwukere said.

Some of the widows, who spoke to Vanguard, commended Dame Jonathan for the donations, promising that they would stand solidly behind President Jonathan during the 2015 general election.