Wife of Benue State governor Mrs. Yemisi Suswam has been named the face of Akata fishing and Cultural Festival.
The festival, a celebration of the rich culture of the Tiv people in Benue State, will begin on Tuesday, June 4, 2013. A statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday by the principal consultant, Gren Business Dimensions, Mrs. Rosemary Duamlong named the first lady of the state as the ambassador and face of Akata 2013 because of her achievements in the area of women and youths empowerment through the SEV-AV foundation.
“The choice was informed by her outstanding achievements in the holistic development of the state and her consistency in the course that seeks to prime humanity to loftier heights”
The statement praised Mrs. Suswam for her role in community development, capacity building and sensitization of the people on pressing issues through Sev-Av Women Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (now NAWOCA), Sev-Av Agro-processing Centre and Sev-Av Craft and Skills Acquisition Centres.
Stressing the impact of the organization, particularly in the areas of empowerment of the youths and women as well as sustainability of economic, social and infrastructural developments in the rural areas, the statement commended Mrs. Suswam for the establishment of crafts and skills acquisition centres at Vandeikya and Gboko, Sev-Av Agro-processing Centre in Katsina-Ala and Ukum Local Government Areas and the three PMTCT Clinics in Vandeikya, Gboko and Otukpo.
The statement also commended the governor’s wife for training and financially empowering more than one hundred and fifty (150) widows across the state. “In 2008, the foundation distributed infant formula to babies exposed to HIV in Makurdi. In 2010 and 2011, wheel chairs were distributed to the physically challenged in Makurdi. In addition to this, at different times, Her Excellency on behalf of Sev-Av Foundation, donated food stuff and other materials to orphans and widows in Benue State” the statement said.
Continuing, the statement said the Foundation provided care and support to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAS) and orphans in Benue and Nassarawa States.
“More than 100 orphans in Benue State were catered for through payment of school fees and provision of school materials. Anti-malaria and HIV/AIDS drugs worth millions of Naira were distributed to the 23 Local Government Areas of the State. To improve reading culture in students and children, various brands of books were donated to pupils and students of primary and secondary schools in the State”.