Be Intentional about Parenting, Motherhood, Mrs Soludo counsels Anambra women
From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Wife of the Anambra State Governor, Mrs Nonye Soludo has called on women in Anambra State to be intentional in becoming good and responsible mothers in their parenting responsibilities across various families in the state.
The Anambra First Lady spoke in Awka on Thursday during the 2025 Anambra Women’s Health Summit, held at the Light House, Awka . The Summit which formed part of this year’s Women August Meeting attracted women leaders across communities, religious denominations, political parties, markets and pressure groups in the state.
The Governor’s wife also called on women to stop emulating some Western cultures that do not support their indigenous socio-cultural philosophies, which make for peaceful families and societies.
According to her, the people’s indigenous culture is unique and has safeguards that specify roles of partners in the family.
She bemoaned the spike in cases of violence against women in the homes and observed that most of the cases stem from headship tussle and disrespect for one another.
She noted that the Igbo traditional system recognizes the man as the head of the family, with the accompanying responsibilities, while the women is the neck of the family which holds the head together. She reminded the women that when they honour and respect their husbands, they will reciprocate with love and support.
“The problem we have today is that many of our women copy so much of the Western cultures they watch. This brings about friction in the family.
“Under the family system, there are specified roles. Each partner must embrace their God-given roles and play them for the benefit of their homes.
“While we condemn violence of any sort against the women in the homes, our women must know that when they nag too much and disrespect their husbands, it may lead to violence,” she said.
The governor’s wife, who also spoke on women and children’s health, emphasized the need for mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding as the greatest gift they can give to their newborn, explaining that there is enough nutrients for the growth of the baby in breast milk than in the synthesized baby foods sold in the market.
She also urged the women to ensure that their children are properly immunized.
Dr Soludo further tasked the women to be conscious of their health, eat healthy, exercise regularly and avoid consuming of packaged foods, which she noted are detrimental to their health.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike explained that the Summit, which is in its third edition, is an annual tradition targeted at exposing the women to positive trends and health habits they can imbibe for wholesome living.
He revealed that the last year’s edition of the Summit which focused on women and children’s nutrition, was what gave birth to the Quash Pap initiative, which has proved effective in addressing the challenge of malnourished children across health centres in the state.
For their part, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Ify Obinabo and her Education Counterpart, Prof Ngozi Chuma-Ude said the women turned out in their numbers to give the assurance that they are solidly behind the governor’s wife for all the benefits the women have received from the Chukwuma Soludo administration.
They enumerated the various women and children-friendly policies of the state government to include the free education policy, the free antenatal and delivery policy, the introduction of immunization at no cost on deadly diseases, small trader empowerment initiative among others.
In a goodwill message, the State Coordinator of the World Health Organization, WHO, Dr Bonos Mohammed, who spoke on the Measles and Rubella Vaccine to be introduced in the state in February 2026, harped on the need for the women to support government efforts at ensuring that no child in the state dies from vaccine-preventable diseases, by making their children available for immunization.
In a lecture on women’s sexual and reproductive rights, a consultant Gynaecologist, Prof Bryan Adinma, lamented that Nigeria is one of the most unsafe country to get pregnant and have a child, as statistics still show maternal and child mortality.
He identified unsafe abortion, negative traditional practices such as female circumcision, early marriage, and negative widowhood practices, among others as some factors that infringe on the rights of the women.
Adinma called on government at all levels to enact a law that every pregnant woman must be provided antenatal care and delivered free of charge, while those who do not want to get pregnant should be allowed access to family planning methods free of charge.
Other resource persons including Dr Chioma Mbachu, and the state Commissioner for Special Duties, Beverly Nkemdiche-Ikpeazu spoke to the women on nutrition and women in politics respectively.
Participants at the Women Summit received gift packages and cash awards from the Governor’s wife.
