Akwa Ibom State First Lady urges wives of council chairmen to facilitate cervical cancer vaccination

The Akwa Ibom State First Lady, Mrs Patience Umo Eno, has urged the state’s chapter of the Wives of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (WALGON) to ensure that teenage girls in their localities between the ages of nine and 14 are available for the administration of the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine.

Mrs Eno gave the charge on Tuesday when members of WALGON visited her in Government House.

Describing them as frontline leaders in their communities, she urged them to have a regular interface with women at the grassroots and dialogue on how to promote the family standard of living, thereby ensuring a safe and secure society.

The governor’s wife informed them about the focus of her pet project, which will be unveiled soon, stressing that it aligns with the ARISE agenda of her husband, Governor Umo Eno.

According to her: “The key focus of my soon-to-be-unveiled pet project is the family, and I welcome ideas from you on what can be done to help an average Akwa Ibom family. My interest in the family began when I discovered, in the local government where I lived for a while, the difficulties in finding a united family. And so I will need you to project and support the family.

She further charged them: “I want you all, as frontline female stakeholders in your respective local government areas, to model how families should be for others to emulate because you cannot give out what you do not have.

“I also want you to ensure that teenage girls in your localities between the ages of 9 and 14 are available for the administration of the Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine, a vaccination that will prevent them from developing cervical cancer.”

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The chairperson of WALGON, Mrs Maria-Therese Robson, said the purpose of their visit was to inform the governor’s wife about the imminent expiration of their husbands’ tenure as local government chairmen in the coming weeks.

She appealed to the First Lady to carry them along in her projects for the state while assuring her of WALGON’s willingness to partner with her despite the fact that their husbands would be vacating office soon.