I am highly delighted to welcome you all to the ancient but beautiful Benin City, Edo State, the Heartbeat of the Nation, for the FIDA NIGERIA 2023 AGC/AGM, the second to be hosted under this tenure.I am thankful to God for the safety He granted to all of us to this great city.
My heart is full of gratitude to the Leadership of FIDA Edo led by the Chairperson Violet Oghogho Olumese her executive and members, Government and good people of Edo State for the beautiful and warm reception extended to all FIDA members across the country who are gathered here for this year’s AGC/AGM.
All glory to God for giving us yet another opportunity to participate at this AGC/AGM.
At this Conference, as usual, we shall do the following;
•Review our work and the strategies deployed to achieving our mandate.
•Building of members’ Capacities for achieving better results on our mandate.
•Receipt and review of Branch Reports.
•Review our partnership and networking strategies.
• Celebrate successes recorded and explore closer friendships, etc.
Let me state that since our assumption in this tenure, we have sustained the struggle for the protection, promotion and defense of women and children in our land and in order to achieve these objectives, we have held different trainings and retrained ourselves on vital leadership skills and also on the critical areas of our mandate.
It must be stated that we have continued to enjoy the support of our partners both locally and internationally in terms of projects and capacity building. We have also worked closely with both State and Non State actors.
We have sustained and improved on our Networking strategies which have earned us a lot of opportunities.
Let me again use this opportunity to appreciate most sincerely My lords, Seniors, Board of Trustee Members, my Colleagues, the National officers, Leadership and FIDANS in our Branches and FIDA Nigeria Secretariat Staff, for all the support that have caused us to record great successes. Indeed, we all have been spectacular!
My dear FIDANS, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am particularly glad to inform you that this Conference is set out to achieve greatly. This can be seen from the lined up activities and the theme which is “STRENGTHENING LEGAL SAFEGUARD FOR VULNERABLE POPULATION IN NIGERIA” and other topics set for deliberations. Let me appreciate the entire FIDA leadership for the choice of this year’s theme.
The theme is not only apt but timely considering the fact that in handling the responsibilities under our mandate, the role of legal framework cannot be overemphasized. You all will agree with me that the passage of Laws such as the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, (further domesticated in most of our States) have added great value to our work.
Therefore, If we must sustain the tempo and also seek to do more for the benefit of the vulnerable women and children in Nigeria, we must all work together to strengthen all available legal safeguard meant for the protection of the vulnerable population in country.
We must seek full implementation of the laws, seek the promulgation of new legal frameworks where there are gaps. May I use this opportunity to appreciate the leadership of the 10th National Assembly for indicating interest in all gender sensitive bills.
This gives hope that Bills such as Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill will soon see the light of the day. I believe that in the course of this discourse, we shall come up with useful recommendations on how to ensure greater legal safeguard for the vulnerable Nigerian population.
As you all are already aware, this is the International Month set for activism on Sexual and gender based violence against women and girls. As an Organization, we will not relent in our determination to ensure that the menace of SGBV is done away with in our country. We are more resolved to use all laws at our disposal to bring perpetrators to justice.
We shall continue to strengthen our advocacy, collaboration, networking, litigation and mediation skills to ensure greater protection for women and children in our country. 
Dear FIDANS, I employ us all to use these few days we are going to be here to come up with greater strategies on how to use the instrumentality of the law to protect the vulnerable members of our society. May God use this outing to renew our unwavering commitment to work towards the sustenance of an equitable and just society for all. May we all leave Benin City with greater resolve and determination to promote, protect and preserve the rights of Women and children in Nigeria.
CONCLUSION.
Distinguished FIDANS, invited guests, Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by calling on us to all work together to achieve a better Nigeria! I thank you so much for giving me audience. I wish us all a very successful AGC/AGM 2023
ONCE MORE, WELCOME TO Benin City!
• Suzanah Agbaje Country Vice President/President, FIDA
Dated this 23rd day of November, 2023.
