The Armed Forces of Nigeria have assured its commitment in supporting of Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association, DEPOWA in achieving their mandate for the unity of the country.
The Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa made the assurance when the DEPOWA President and her EXCO paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
General Musa said that the military will continue to support DEPOWA in whatever means they can because as long as DEPOWA succeed, it makes their work a lot easier.
According to him, he wants to see more activities being done by the association as he enjoys the cooperation.
He noted that one of the greatest aspects that you can see from the men, they are working together from the service to them; no difference everybody trying for the same goal.
“And I’m happy I also carry on doing the same thing. So God will continue to see you and continue to bless you. Thank you for your visit. We look forward to more activities that will be invited so that we can continue to foster that unity. We know the challenges of being in the military being in the barracks. People outside look at us differently. So if on our own we also look at ourselves differently then we are suffering from both sides. So we should learn to unite and work together as a team. It is only then they will confess the outside. Once again thank you very much. God bless you”, he said.
Earlier, the President Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association, DEPOWA, Mrs. Oghogho Musa intimated the CDS on activities of DEPOWA as the body unifying all the wives of serving officers of the Armed Forces and police in the mandate to ensure wives are responsible in meeting the challenges faced by their husbands in the course of their duties.
According to her, over the years, it has evolved from being an association of ideal women to become an organization committed to hundreds are refined the potentials of all women in the military and police which enables a solid support system to their spouses, thereby contributing to a better society.
Mrs Musa said, “DEPOWA is unique as they have a collaborative structure as they have officers’ wives and police serving in the association”.
She noted that in the last two months, DEPOWA trained over 40 youths of the community in information technology, makeup, production of household items, and Barbie in skill acquisition Centre where at the end of the training, trainees were given Starter packs.
“We start up paths to further encourage and we tend to commence training of widows drawn from all the association by the end of this month, which is one of the integral objectives of the association”, she said.
“The Chief of Defence Staff, we tend to embark on various campaigns and initiatives to support women development and also pay visits to orphanages, internally displaced person camps outside the military community visit to wounded soldiers to provide additional aid for their recovery and the impact of the Armed Forces building agenda. Our new challenge was the non-kinetic support in the fight against terrorism. With all these identified target support areas, we know we cannot embark on this journey without your support. I know that we can rely on your cooperation and extensive insight as we are fully ready to keep contributing to our past initial duty. I want to sincerely thank you, sir, for the opportunity to be here and for the time given to AWS as of your very decision. We know that keeping the peace of peace and security of the nation is a time-sensitive job. I pray that God in His mercy will continue to give you the strength and the grace to deliver”, she added.
Both DEPOWA EXCOs and key Officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria were in attendance.
Souvenirs were presented.
Dominica Nwabufo
