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| L-R: Justice Sherifat Solebo of Lagos State Judiciary; Wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluremi Hamzat; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and First Lady, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu |
The governor promised more intervention by the state
government to support the campaign.
He spoke at Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja during the
presentation of the vehicles by his wife, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu.
The vehicles were presented to facilitate a prompt,
efficient, and effective response to the menace of rape, defilement, domestic
violence, child abuse, and associated crimes.
The beneficiaries are Family Court, Lagos State Judiciary;
Directorate of Family Health and Nutrition, Lagos State Ministry of Health;
Guidance and Counseling Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Education; Women’s Rights
and Health Project (WRAHP); Auntlanda Bethel Foundation; and SGBV Response
Team, Office of the First Lady.
The vehicle presentation was the highpoint of the
commemoration of the global 16 days of activism against SGBV, as spearheaded in
the state by the Office of the First Lady.
The governor commended all the stakeholders, partners, and
donors, saying the feat clearly confirmed that a lot could be achieved working
together.
“I am happy with all of our partners, the NGOs, the various
offices, and the judiciary that are doing great things.
“What this means is that just keep doing what you are doing,
somebody somewhere is watching, and at the appropriate time, you will be
encouraged and we all need to encourage ourselves. I am sure next year, others
who are also raising up the bar and they are best in class at what they do will
be encouraged.
“On behalf of the government and people of Lagos State, I
want to thank all of you for what you are doing. I want to thank my wife, the
First Lady; the wife of my brother the Deputy Governor; everybody in the Office
of First Lady, and all stakeholders that have put this together.
“What this means is that next year, we should do a lot
better, we should have a lot more partners, we should have a lot more
intervention, we should indeed be able to say that indeed these are the things
we have done and we are on the right path,” he said.
Earlier, the First Lady said a lot had been done to scale up
the fight against SGBV.
She said it was gratifying that vehicles were being
presented to further ramp up the capacities of relevant agencies to deal
decisively with the menace.
“A lot has been done with regards to the 16 days of
activism. We had our Community Sensitization on the 29th of November, followed
by School Sensitization.
“We also took part in the Interfaith parley where we had the
opportunity to talk to religious leaders (Christian and Muslim).
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| L-R: Justice Sherifat Solebo of Lagos State Judiciary; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his wife, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; Wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluremi Hamzat; and Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Cecelia Bolaji Dada. |
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| L-R: Wife of Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluremi Hamzat; the First Lady, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and Founder/ Servant-in-charge, Auntlanda Bethel Foundation, Dr. Yolanda N. George-David |
“In between, I went to Abuja to attend the Second Annual Conference of Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
“We also had the opportunity of meeting the National Union
of Road Transport Workers to sensitize them on the dangers and position of the
law on SGBV.
“We are presenting six vehicles today making a total of Nine
vehicles we have presented to support the fight against SGBV.
“Recall that we had earlier presented three to the Domestic
and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) of the Ministry of Justice; Child
Protection Unit of the Ministry of Youth and Social Development; and the Gender
Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID),
Panti, Lagos.
“For us, we will not relent in our fight against the SGBV,”
she said.
Besides the vehicles, rape kits were also donated to the
Ministry of Health to help in the treatment of rape survivors.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Permanent
Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye commended the
First Lady for her passion and genuine commitment and consistency displayed to
the cause against SGBV, assuring that the vehicles and the rape kits would be
deployed for the intended purpose.
The donors are the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF)
and Lagos State Gaming and Lotteries Authority, while the Lagos State Signage
and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) supported the 16 days of activism campaign
with adverts on billboards and electronic media.