The Channel for Widow Relief Initiative (CFWRI) has urged governments in Nigeria to intensify the empowerment of widows as the country battles to recover from the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founder of the women-focused non-governmental organisation (NGO), Fadhilah Balogun, made the call during the celebration of this year’s International Widows Day in Ibadan.

She said that widows in the country needed the support of the government to alleviate the challenges they are currently facing as a result of the pandemic.

Till date, Nigeria has recorded more than 59,000 cases of Covid-19, with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announcing a 36 percent decline in confirmed cases.

Widows and their children are suffering from extreme poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and exposure to diseases, according to her.

‘Persecution and abuse of widows and their children are not limited to the developing world. Large groups of widows suffering similar fate can also be found in Europe, including Russia and Central Asia’, she said.

‘Many widows in developed countries also face social isolation and commonly live with severe poverty due to the lack of affordable health care and employment’.

In her lecture, Dr Shakirat Olanlege, said that widows in Nigeria were passing through difficulties and needed the assistance of all and sundry, while the Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni, commended the founder of CFWRI for her efforts in assisting the widows and their children.

Sanni, who was represented by Ighen Ibironke, also expressed appreciation to the NGOs in the state for supporting the government in assisting vulnerable citizens.

Source: NAN

Photo source: NCDC