Girl-Child Education: Gertrude Initiative calls Nigerians for support

The importance of educating and giving voice to a girl child cannot be over emphasized, hence the need for all hands to be on deck to give the needed support and encouragement towards helping them find fulfilment in life.

The founder of Gertrude Olowo Empowerment Initiative, Mrs Oluwabusola Adeyemo, a non governmental organisation who made this known said the organization is set to send 100 out of school girls back to school this new academic session starting September 2021.

According to her, the organization will be giving school bags, books, writing tools and other instructional materials to 100 disadvantaged girls across poor communities and public schools’ settings in Nigeria’s South- West region.

To bring the vision to a reality, Gertrude Initiative calls for partnership from 150 Nigerians who can support the initiative with two thousand naira only before the new academic session begins.

Mrs. Adeyemo added that donations can be made into the foundation's Zenith Bank account, with details, Gertrude Olowo Empowerment Initiative, 1017378049.

WE RECEIVED JUST ONE PETITION OUT OF 256 ELECTIONS- OGSIEC BOSS

The Chairman, Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC), Mr. Babatunde Osibodu says, out of the 256 elections conducted, comprising 20 for Chairmen and 236 for Councillors, only 1 petition has been received from the tribunal set up to consider election petitions in the State.

Osibodu who disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the State Ministry of Information and Strategy, noted that, ‘’this development says a huge volume more than what any word can say, as it an indication that the people and the parties recognized that the conduct of the election was free, fair and highly credible.

According to him, “It is the first time in the history of elections in this state and probably across Nigeria that only one petition was received from the tribunal set to consider Local Government election petitions. We thank God for the peaceful conduct of the parties and the people, during the election, there was no report of breach of peace, brigandage or anything that is against the law. 

"We are very pleased with the outcome of the elections. The media also outperformed themselves in this particular election. Both the print and electronic as well as social media, they were so cooperative throughout the entire process”, he said.

Osibodu commended the management and staff of the Information Ministry for the tremendous support and cooperation OGSIEC received leading up to the recently concluded elections into the Local Government areas in the State, saying ‘’the cooperation that we received starting from the Commissioner, Permanent Secretary, Directors and the entire staff of the Ministry, was tremendous. They worked with us from the day the election process was declared until the day the election actually took place, so we are here to say thank you’’.

Remarking, the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Abdulwaheed Odusile, noted that, good synergy between his Ministry and the Electoral Commission was responsible for the dissemination of right information to the people during the just concluded 2021 Local Government elections in the State.

Odusile said the synergy reflected in the positive outcome of the elections, saying without the cooperation, the two agencies would not have been able to disseminate the right information about the election to the people.

“I thank the Chairman of OGSIEC and the entire Commission for the visit; it goes a long way in building the synergy that we have created between OGSIEC and the State Ministry of Information and by extension, the Journalists in Ogun State. Without this kind of Synergy, we will not be able to disseminate the right information about the election to our people, we need OGSIEC for the information and OGSIEC needs us for the information they want to pass across to the public.

“We deployed officers to monitor the elections across the entire 20 Local Government Areas which is  a novel thing and as a Journalist, who has been part of elections coverage in Nigeria for so many years, I think it is a good thing and I am sure my colleagues that went out from the Ministry  enjoyed  it as it will enrich their experience and the information data bank in the  Ministry of Information”, he stated.