The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has urged women to embrace vocational and skill acquisition to empower themselves and contribute to the economic growth of the country.

He made the call at the 16th Annual Women's Week of the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society (NASFAT) in Lagos, while stressing in a statement released by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture,Mr. Olajide Basorun on Sunday that food security remains one of the cardinal programmes of his administration.

Ambode, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, at the NASFAT programme which has ‘Entrepreneurship: Remoulding Women's Perception’ as theme said women empowerment was the surest way of securing the future of the country.

“'Our administration is committed to promoting and encouraging the acquisition of skills and vocational education as major instruments for women empowerment, job and wealth creation.

“The newly created Ministry of Employment and Wealth Creation is in fulfillment of our electoral promise to make life better and comfortable for everybody.

“The Ministry will identify and work with all stakeholders to promote trade and businesses among women, which will in turn provide employment and livelihood to a great number of people.

“As a government, we will continue to support women by ensuring the provision of conducive atmosphere for the realisation of your potentials.”

Also, Alhaji Kamil Bolarinwa, President, NASFAT worldwide, said that women had a unique responsibility to the family, community and society at large, as they were the number one agent of socialisation and mobilisation.

Bolarinwa said that the weeklong programme was organised to sharpen and remould women in entrepreneurial skills to make them economically independent.

According to him, if women fail in their duty, the society will definitely be in trouble.

Bolarinwa urged Muslim women to always cover their heads as Hijab was the Creator's directive that must be obeyed and non-negotiable.

“A Muslim woman who covers her head is making a statement about her identity-- which signifies good moral character, dignity and self-esteem.

“I call for the understanding of those who are in authority inspite of the current challenges of terrorism.”

In his remarks, Sheikh Abdullahi Akinbode, Chief Missioner, urged NASFAT society to imbibe the virtues of honesty, humility, integrity and fairness in whatever business or trade they want to adopt.

Akinbode also urged them to strive to make Islamic tenets and injunctions the basis of their personal and family lives.

Alhaja Samiat Mumuni, National Women Affairs Secretary, NASFAT said that the NASFAT Women's Week was an annual programme aimed at sensitising Muslim women on the unique values of their faith and roles in building the society.

Mumuni said the programme was also a vehicle to enlighten Muslims, government at all levels, and the general public, on issues of interest in the empowerment, social integration and community development.

She said that the role of women in human capacity building and the development of society could not be over emphasized.

Mr. Olajide Basorun in a statement made available by Mr. Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry, said in Lagos that the government had put in place strategies that would engender sustainable food production.

“One of the major principles of attaining food security is to look at those areas where one has comparative advantage and focus on them to ensure that the citizens were well fed.

“One of those areas is aqua-culture because more than 22 per cent of the entire land mass of Lagos is covered by water and we have 180km coastline.”

The statement said the government would continue to support fish farming and production in its bid to address the decline in the supply of captured fish.

“Government will continue to create enabling and conducive environment, facilitate capacity building and create ground for easy access to credit facility for fish farmers.

“This will reduce the cost of production and enhance profitability.”

The statement explained that the reduction in fish supply was due to a number of factors, including pollution, high cost of fishing input and the use of obnoxious fishing methods.

It noted that the residents had always been fishermen but over the years, their catches had been dwindling.

“This prompted the government to introduce fish farming about 20 years ago in order to address the dwindling supply of fish in the state.”

The statement said that training on farming was conceived 11 years ago to expose participants to new investment opportunities and build capacities of practising fish farmers for enhanced productivity.

It said that Mrs. Adedoyin Olusoga, a former Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Civil Service, noted that the downward trend in the fish supply had necessitated the massive importation of fish.

“This is a big drain on the scarce foreign exchange, hence aqua-culture or fish farming, has been identified as the next viable option for increasing domestic fish production.”

It quoted Olusoga as saying that the state required about 330,000 metric tonnes of fish annually to satisfy the fish dietary needs of the populace.

“The total aggregate of domestic fish supply from all sources is about 176,850 tonnes per annum.”

It advised government to continue to create an enabling environment for private sector to invest in fish feeds production.

“This will ultimately lower the cost of fish production as feed constitutes 70 per cent of the recurrent cost in fish farming.

“The establishment of a fish market for cultured fishes will create appropriate pricing mechanism and bring more profit to the producers.” (NAN)

•Photo shows Gov. Ambode