Advocacy for Widows Empowerment Foundation (ADWEF), in collaboration with Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, have once again empowered widows in various parts of the country by giving them working equipments to further enhance their occupational endeavours.

In a ceremony in Lagos at the weekend, various working equipments such as sewing machines, Hair dryers,  grinding machines, generating sets and other tools worth hundreds of thousands were donated to widows, to boost their vocations.

This year’s 2014 edition which is the second of ADWEF empowerment programme is designed for the less-privileged widows in Nigeria and supported by Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, the 2013 edition was equally a boost to the widow’s living standard.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Chinwe Nwachukwu, General Manager, External Communications, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, said the company is supporting the widows so that they can manage their widowhood with ease, pointing out that Seplat can also assist them in other ways.

‘Whatever you receive make sure you use them judiciously. We are trying to touch lives from the money Seplat makes from drilling and selling oil she told the widows.

She pointed out that the company is assisting widows outside its catchment area in the Niger Delta, due to the worthiness of the program, and so are trying to spread the programme to other parts of the country. About 300 widows attended the programme.

According to Willie Workman-Oga, Founder, ADWEF the aim of the programme is to empower the widows so that they can manage their businesses in the absence of their husbands and thus contributing meaningfully to the upkeep of their homes.Noting that the programme has come to be an annual event, Workman-Oga explained that it is the intention of the NGO to contribute positively to the lives of widows, while aligning with government agencies, traditional rulers and other international organizations who have passion for widows’ empowerment.

He stressed that ADWEF desires to help widows that already have businesses upgrade their business, while those in the verge of starting a business or sent on vocational courses would be empowered such that they can contribute positively to the upliftment of widowhood and the community in which they reside.

The vision of the Foundation is to see the total liberation of widows from the ugly norms of deprivation of inheritance and abuse of their human rights to a place where they are encouraged, nurtured to discover and utilize their hidden entrepreneurial skills by becoming contributors to their community’s development as employers of labor.

Some of the Foundation’s roles are: to cooperate with existing NGOs to educate men on the need to write their wills early in life and also to make their wife’s their next of kin in all insurance, employment and banking document in order to ease the accessibility of funds for use of their family in instances of their deaths.