Date: 2016-10-02

As the Nation marks its 56th independence anniversary, the Forum of Senators' Wives have joined in offering prayers for Nigeria. Chair of the Forum, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, Wife of the President of the Senate said the nation's 56th independence anniversary was coming at a time when the Nigerian Senate had just demonstrated unprecedented gender sensitivity by passing the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill through 2nd Reading after the setback in March.

Mrs Saraki who attended the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recalled the encouraging meeting with UN Women at their headquarters in New York on #2030Now advocacy and on Nigeria's Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill in the Nigerian Senate for which the Forum had spearheaded stakeholder advocacy efforts calling for its return to the Senate.

The hope and prayers of the Forum, she said, is that the Bill receives the required support to enable it scale through Public Hearing to success! She commended the sponsor of the Bill, Senator Biodun Olujimi for her dedication and commitment to the cause.

Quoting from the second stanza of the Nigerian National Anthem, Saraki and the Forum Members pray that as the nation clocks 56, the God of creation will direct the country's noble cause by guiding our leaders right, helping our youth to know and understand the truth, and ushering us into a nation where peace and justice truly reigns.