STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY PARTNERS FIDA TO ACHIEVE HIGHER GOALS

The Speaker, Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Barrister Onofiok Luke, has stated the readiness of the House to partner the Akwa Ibom State branch of International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, to achieve it’s set goals and objectives.
He gave the assurance, Tuesday while receiving in audience a delegation of the group during an advocacy visit to the Speaker and members of the House at the assembly complex.
While describing the 6th Assembly as gender sensitive, Speaker Luke explained that the assembly decided to appropriate greater budgetary allocation in the 2016 state budget to areas that has direct benefit to women and children. He commended the female lawyers for leading in the campaign to put a stop to violence against women, promoting widow hood protection rights, girl child education among others, advised them to come up with private bills which seeks to promote their advocacy, and assured of the readiness of the House of Assembly to give such bills the necessary legislative backing.
“We decided to give greater budget allocation to areas that has direct benefit to women and children.
We cannot claim monopoly of knowledge in those areas; we want to ask you to please feel free to propose domestication of violence prohibition bill, make advocacy visit to 2 or 3rd members of the House, ask them to sponsor the bills. The law makes provision for private member bills”.
“If there are areas that you feel we need to strengthen through legislation, feel free to bring it to us”
While thanking FIDA for decorating him as their patron, the Speaker commended the effort of the organization in its sensitization campaign on women and children related issues. He used the opportunity to condemn the recent death of a female medical doctor in the University of Uyo who was attacked in her house, and called on security agencies to bring her killers to book.
Earlier, in her speech, the Chairperson of FIDA in Akwa Ibom State, Barr. Mrs. Mfon Edemekong, congratulated Barr. Luke on his success at the polls and his emergence as Speaker describing as ‘divine’.
She listed objectives of FIDA to include, the enhancement and promotion of the welfare of women and children with the focus that on their peace and happiness rests, the overall peace and strength of the society. Providing free legal services (pro bono), counseling and mediation to couples, families, indigent women and children, among other services.
Barr. Edemekong also used the opportunity to intimate the Speaker on the achievements of the group, and solicited supports to enable the organization achieve more.
“FIDA Akwa Ibom State branch has come a long way in realizing some of the objectives for which the organization was established and has scores of activities to her credit which include- Free walk-in-Legal clinic that offers legal services to children, women, and indigent members of the society and in recent times. The enactment of the widowhood (Prohibition of obnoxious practices) Law, 2013, enlightenment campaigns on the existence of certain laws within the 3million Senatorial districts for stakeholders in the administration of justice especially at the grassroot level”.
High Point of the meeting was the official decoration of the speaker as patron of the organization.