Ahead of the November governorship elections in Kogi State, the Achana Legacy Foundation has launched its campaign initiative to support candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Ahmed Usman-Ododo’s gubernatorial bid.
Spearheaded by Achana Legacy Foundation’s president and founder, Dr. Maryam J. Ali, the initiative, ‘Women Entrepreneurs in Kogi State, Nigeria and Diaspora (WEND) Network for Ododo’ is an offshoot of WEND Network, an NGO with a mission to empower women entrepreneurs by providing them with the knowledge, resources, and network they need to succeed in their business ventures, as well as to encourage women participation in politics.
The launch event which held in the convener’s hometown of Okpo in Olamaboro LGA of Kogi State drew a mammoth crowd of women across all works of life, as well as top government functionaries including Governor Yahaya Bello, who was represented by Deputy Governor Edward Onoja. Also in attendance was the APC State party chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello, former Deputy Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt Honorable Ahmed Muhammed, and a host of others.
It serves as activation of the campaign trail leading up to the governorship elections in November and will be replicated across all 21 Local Government Areas of Kogi State.
In her remarks, Dr. Ali stated that the initiative was driven by the desire to see a visionary leader at the helm of affairs in Kogi State, and to consolidate continuity of good governance already established by the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello.
She said this as she unveiled the “1,000 Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Diaspora for Ododo Campaign,” a 10 x 10 x 10 empowerment-cum-campaign strategy which involves a cycle of 1,000 women entrepreneurs who will each empower 10 eligible and voting women with valid PVCs through various entrepreneurial and business endeavours across multiple value chains. This will cascade on, as each empowered woman pays it forward by empowering 10 more women, bringing a total of no less than 1 million registered and empowered women voters for the Ododo/Oyibo Gubernatorial bid.
“This only serves as a launchpad for the many other strategies we intend to deploy to ensure a landslide victory. These strategies include: fundraising events, as well as the creation of a robust database management system, among many other online and offline content geared to drive engagement and support,” she said.
In his remarks as chief launcher, Governor Bello, represented by his Deputy, Chief Edward Onoja, appreciated Dr. Ali’s efforts as a long time supporter of the party and the administration. He lauded the concept of empowering women economically and politically at the same time calling it a strategic measure towards clinching a win for the APC, while advancing the development of the citizens of the State.
Achana Legacy Foundation is a non profit organisation duly registered in Nigeria and the United States of America. The foundation creates resources for less privileged and at risk women and youth in terms of immediate needs, as well as vocational training to enable them be self sufficient in the long term.The foundation has also carried out several advocacy, as well as political campaigns, most notably for the Mayor of Atlanta, where it successfully mobilized and raised funds for his campaign.
