By EDISON Okereke
The chairman of Oru-West Local Government, Chief Ikenna Adikibe has commended the wife of the Imo State governor, Lady Chioma Uzodimma on her untiring efforts in championing the campaign of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the state.
He gave the commendation at the sensitisation against the practice in the area.
While appreciating the Governor’s wife for her unwavering commitment to combat the harmful practice, Adikibe stated the statewide initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare under the auspices of the UNICEF, saying Mrs Uzodimma has shown exemplary leadership in ensuring its eradication in the state.
Promising to replicate the noble initiative and impactful programme in the LGA, Chief Adikibe noted that FGM is not only a harmful cultural practice but a violation of human rights that causes irreversible damage, physically, emotionally and psychologically.
“It exposes women and girls to severe health complications: infections, childbirth difficulties and even death. The physical harm robs young girls of their dignity and subjects them to a life-long trauma,” he stated.
He, therefore, called on parents to join hands in the fight against the inhuman practice.
The commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Nkecinyere Ugwu who represented the Governor’s wife on the occasion, echoed Mrs Uzodimma’s message that FGM is fraught with many disadvantages, including infection, bleeding, death, among others.
Mrs Nkechinyere informed that the visit would be taken to every nook and corner of the state including the churches, and with the full involvement of the traditional rulers and the help of the media to circulate the information, the message will go virally.
The wife of the Oru West Local Government Chairman, Mrs Adikibe also commended the governor’s wife adding that ‘our amiable mama Imo is actively working and behind the total eradication of it in the state.
