The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has reiterated her commitment to support women and children to improve their health and physical wellbeing.
Mrs Buhari said this on Saturday night during an award ceremony to mark the third anniversary of her NGO, the Future Assured programme.
The wife of the President said Future Assured was borne out of her desire to address problems associated with the health and wellbeing of women and children in Nigeria.
“Future Assured started out of my passion for the health and wellbeing of women and children in the society.
“The overriding objective of Future Assured is to contribute to improve outcomes in Nigeria, especially in the areas health, empowerment, education and human rights.
“Primarily, Future Assured came about to intervene in addressing the deteriorating health conditions of women and children in terms of maternal, Neonatal, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition,’’ she said.
According to her, one of the cardinal objectives of Future Assured is to complement Federal Government’s efforts to achieve universal health coverage.
She said that the NGO had achieved a lot through advocacy for girl-child education and provision of scholarship to indigent pupils as well as support for women to complete their education.
She noted that her collaboration with well-meaning Nigerians and development partners, especially the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had enabled the NGO to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians.
Mrs Buhari gave assurance that the NGO would continue to support victims of child and other forms of abuses as well as surgeries for children with congenital problems.
She also pledged to continue the advocacy and support to uplift the living condition of less privileged Nigerians.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, represented by Dr Evelyn Ngige, appreciated the efforts of the NGO in improving the healthcare system of the country.
He said the initiative had helped to reduce malnutrition among children and created more awareness on cervical and breast cancer.
The ceremony featured the unveiling of a platform, ‘Pitch@Palace’ for youth development, to accelerate development of entrepreneurial skills.
Dr Mohammed Kamal, National Coordinator of Future Assured who unveiled the platform, said: “It will help in reducing the rate of unemployment and boost the economy’’.
The event featured presentation of awards to 12 young entrepreneurs for their outstanding initiatives to boost the economy and image of the country.
Some Nigerians who had distinguished themselves in their Professions were also recognised and given awards.
One of the Award recipients and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari said he remained determined to continue the fight against armed robbery and kidnapping.
Kyari also expressed gratitude to the wife of the President for finding him worthy of the award, adding that the award would spur him to do more in the interest of peace in Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of Federal Medical Hospital, Yola, Prof. Auwal Abubakar, thanked the wife of the President for constructing a 70-bed-capacity maternity clinic in Yola.
Abubakar said the project would help to tackle the influx of patients from neighbouring states.
The event also featured the unveiling of Future Assured Magazine to showcase the humanitarian activities of Aisha Buhari Foundation and Future Assured Programme in the last 3-years. (NAN)