Police Wives Association Mobilise 100,000 Women To Bolster Nigeria's Agriculture

News in brief: The Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) plans to mobilise 100,000 women to boost agricultural value chains by increasing the agriculture workforce in Nigeria, aligning with President Bola Tinubu's food security agenda.

The Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) of Nigeria has announced plans to mobilise 100,000 women to improve agricultural value chains. It aims to do this by increasing the agricultural workforce.

POWA's president, Mrs. Elizabeth Egbetokun, highlighted the significance of the project. She said it was essential in promoting food security in the country, being in line with President Bola Tinubu's agenda for food security.

Also, she stated that mobilising women to boost the agricultural workforce is key to the stability of the country. Furthermore, she pledged to use her capacity as a member of sundry agricultural boards to boost women participation in the sector.

Egbetokun is an advocate of the Young Women in Agriculture (YWA) under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) Strategic Intervention Programme-ALPHA (SIP-ALPHA) initiative.

Her sentinment is similar to the one recently expressed by Edobong Akpabio, the former Chairperson of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Agriculture and Allied Group. Akpabio had argued that Nigeria’s productivity will increase with the involvement of women in agriculture. However, she urged governments and other stakeholders to help to remove barriers preventing women's involvement in the sector.

Also lending his voice to the project, the chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Alhaji Tanko Adamu, said his committee is engaging structures such as POWA, to encourage diasporic contributions to national development.

He emphasised the significant positions occupied by Nigerians abroad, as pivotal to national improvement. Adamu said these include Nigerians working in leadership positions at international institutions, experts in various fields, and Nigerians looking for ways to improve the country's development.

With POWA already having structures across the country, he added that it is simpler for Nigerians living abroad to intervene through such structures.