By Bose Adelaja

IT was election day and this housewife joined others in her neighbourhood to exercise her right to vote. Unfortunately all she got was a broken hip for her trouble. From then, life became a living hell for her and her family.

Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Bolanle Ambode (m) with Folake while others look on.

It all began with the inevitable expenses on medical treatment as she underwent two unsuccessful major surgeries in two Lagos general hospitals. That practically wiped out all the family’s savings. On account of this, she had cried all day as she considered her bleak future.

But in a happy twist of fate she recently had an encounter with the wife of the Lagos State Governor Bolanle Ambode, an encounter that has since changed the blighted course of her life. Suddenly Mrs Folake Muritala, a petty trader, can smile again.

She told  Vanguard Metro she had gone to Epe to cry out to Governor Akinwumi Ambode. It was during the visit that she was opportuned to be interviewed by the Governor’s his wife.

That fortuitious encounter opened a door of opportunity that will soon see her being flown abroad for a major surgery with all expenses, including flight, to be met by her benefactor.

Folake’s ordeal began in 2003 after a stampede in the Epe area of Lagos. She got her thigh broken while scampering for safety.

On that fateful election day, according to her: ‘’I was about casting my vote when suddenly there was a stampede that eventually led to the death of some people’’.

Her ordeal was to take her to Gbagada and Ikorodu General Hospitals for major surgeries. She was also on admission at Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos where doctors also tried endlessly to revive her broken hip.

Fortunately for her, she was among about 50 lucky women who benefited from an empowerment programme put up by the Hope for Women Foundation, HOFOWEM, in conjunction with Mrs Ambode.

The financial empowerment which took place penultimate Monday was packaged for widows and mothers with multiple births. It was also meant to provide medical support for the less- privileged. Each beneficiary smiled home with the sum of N250,000.

Mrs Ambode urged the beneficiaries to make use of every opportunities available to them, saying: ‘’Í urge the widows here to take the issue of economic empowerment very seriously.

They must seek to be gainfully employed through a regular paid job or vocational skill that would generate regular income to meet their vital needs. A stable income gives some guarantee of happiness and preserves the dignity and self worth woman. The Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, will be readily available to assist you in this regard through its vocational training centres located across the state’’.

In her remark, a representative of HOFOWEM Oyefunke Adeleke, said her commitment was to assist the needy.

Speaking on the theme, ‘The rights of the widow’’, the Director, Public Defender, Ministry of Justice, Mrs Omotola Rotimi, called on widows to report to her office any time their rights are violated. According to her, every legally married woman has the right to one third of her husband’s property and in case of violation of rights, they should report to our office for proper action.

An Assistant Director in WAPA, Mrs Toyin Onanuga advised women to register for vocational skills across the state.