Ex Minister Josephine Anenih Congratulates Mrs Obiano on The Sun Award

The former Minister of Women and Social Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih, has lauded Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, wife of Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano, for winning the 2019 The Sun newspaper Award as the best supporting governor’s wife in Nigeria.

The award, originally scheduled to be given in Lagos last May but was postponed on account of the coronavirus pandemic, was bestowed on Mrs Obiano last Thursday by the management of The Sun Newspapers at the Anambra State Banquet Hall in Awka, the state capital.

In a moving letter to Mrs Obiano, Iyom Anenih who served as a minister under ex- President Goodluck Jonathan, noted that the governor’s wife is “eminently deserving of every award not just on account of supporting your husband in the discharge of his duties with every fibre in you but working tirelessly for the poorest of the poor in our midst.

“I have watched with admiration over the years your solidarity with the downtrodden in our society, particularly people with mental health challenges often abandoned by their families to roam the streets in the wrong that they are bewitched.

Dr Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano(Osodieme) Wife of the Governor of Anambra State receiving the award letter from Mr Onuoha Ukeh, Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of the Sun

“I have seen how you take care of widows often oppressed by their husbands’ families who seize their assets and deny them all kinds of rights and privileges.

“You have restored hope in these victims of social injustices by counselling them and, more importantly, by building houses for them all over the 21 local government areas in Anambra State, by furnishing the buildings, by teaching them new skills and by providing them with the equipment they need to start businesses.

“Serving and empowering them has been your passion over the decades, and not something you began when your husband became our governor.

“We are by no means surprised because your heroine has remained Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, who has now, to the delight of heaven and earth, been canonized.

“You will always be in our thoughts and prayers, as you soldier on with the task to bring hope and succor to the needy”.