“Stephanie Clems, Umuahia

It was a moment of appreciation, inspiration, and generosity as Chimaobi Desmond Anyaso addressed members of the Catholic Women Organization of Nigeria during the 2026 annual conference, Newsletter launch and Award ceremony held at Mater Dei Cathedral, Umuahia.

In an emotionally uplifting speech, Anyaso praised the women for their dedication to faith, family, and society.

“It is a joy and a privilege to be with you today. I sincerely celebrate your strength, your prayers, your sacrifices, and the love you pour into your families, the church, and our society,” he said.

Describing them as a “shining light,” he prayed for divine blessings and renewed energy upon them.

“May God bless you abundantly, renew your energy, and make this conference fruitful and memorable,” he said.

Anyaso also extended warm valentine wishes to the women.

“As we celebrate love, let me use this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a happy Valentine’s Day.”

To support the maiden newsletter of the organisation, he donated the sum of ₦500,000 to support the Catholic Women Organization, a gesture that was met with loud applause and appreciation.

The 2026 Women Conference gathered Catholic women from across Nigeria for spiritual growth, empowerment, and fellowship.

Stephanie Clem’s, Umuahia

Wife of Abia state governor Mrs. Chidinma Otti has said that she and her husband the governor hold Catholics highly because they understand leadership more.

Speaking when the national president of CWON,, Mrs..Elizabeth led a delegation of the women on a courtesy visit to her at the government house ,, Umuahia, she said her connection with the catholic church was not only borne out of her being born into the church but due to her conviction that they could decipher when government was good.

S“You know, I have a very special bond with Catholics. “Not just because i was catholic but due to the leadership of the church.“My husband respects the leadership of the church so much, of course apart from that we know that they support good governance and they have been backing him so much.

“So we do no take the catholic church for granted at all.”She said her husband had always supported the Catholic church, adding that the government had always carried the Catholic women along.

She described the visit as an honour to them, stating that the “CWO has always been a strong pillar of faith , moral guidance and community development across Nigeria.”

According to her, there might be future collaborations with the group in service to mankind

The national executive of Catholic Women of Nigeria (CWON), with delegates from 56 dioceses across Nigeria had converged at the Mater Dei cathedral, Umuahia Abia state for its annual conference.

The week-long conference commenced on the 10th of February, 2026 and will end on Sunday, the 15th of February, 2026.As part of activities marking the programme, some of the national delegates on Thursday paid a courtesy visit on the wife of the governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti at her office in the government house in Umuahia.

During the visit, the national president of the Catholic Women Organisation of Nigeria, Hon. Mrs. Elizabeth Sonubi assured the governor’s wife that women would continue to pray for the state and country in general until the security situation improves.

She commended the state government for the tranquillity they had enjoyed since arrival in the state.“We arrived on Tuesday 10th and have been enjoying the atmosphere”She applauded Mrs. Otto for her care for women and the vulnerable in the state through her pet project and other intervention programmes she had embarked on.The CWON president however appealed to the wife of the governor to always remember to carry along catholic women in the state in her numerous empowerment programmes.

She used the occasion to invite the wife of the governor to the opening ceremony of the conference scheduled for Friday, 13th of February, 2026 at Mater Dei cathedral, Umuahia where she will be honoured as an ‘Ambassador of Mary.”

In.The provincial chaplain of CWO, Monsignor Prof. Simon Anyanwu, national sister Adviser, Rev. Sis. Taiwo, their Umuahia Diocesan counterparts, provincial president of CWO, Noble Lady Gloria Kanu and Diocesan presidents of the Owerri province joined in the visit.

By Editor, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, OFR, has assured of the readiness of his administration to collaborate with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme 2.0.

He has also said that his government was not taking the issues of the development and empowerment of Abia youths for granted, hence, the willingness to collaborate with the federal government and UNDP to further empower the youths.

Governor Otti stated this on thursday, February 5th, i, when he received a delegation of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Delivery and Coordination – Office of the Vice President Akubo Adegbe and the UNDP team who paid him a working visit to seek the state’s formal participation in the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) 2.0.- the support and preferred areas of interest to engage Abia youths.

Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) 2.0 is a flagship Federal Government youth employment initiative coordinated by the Office the Vice President and implemented with UNDP, with funding from the European Union.

Established in 2022, NJFP provides 12‑month paid placements for young graduates across public, private, and civil society sectors.Governor Otti described the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) 2.0 as a programme that aligns perfectly with his vision for the development of the youths in the State.

The number one citizens of the state said that his areas of preference for the collaboration and investment are, the digital space, creative economy, energy, and leadership, informing the delegation that his government has empowered many youths with digital skills through the TechRise programme, which has trained and graduated over 1,359 Abia Youths and the Abia leadership Academy too which has trained and graduated about 1000 Abia youths..”We are not taking the issue of the Youths lightly. That is why I said maybe you had a peep into what we were doing. So, this aligns strategically with our own thinking. “The Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme 2.0 sounds to me like a programme that was adopted from here, because even before you came, we already had started doing something.

“”There’s a programme we call the Techrise programme, where we train our young people. The first set that we graduated were about 510. “And then the second set, Techrise 2.0, we graduated 849. It was actually supposed to be 850, but toward the end of the programme, we lost one of the students. And it’s all about digital economy, “and, if you ask me what is the preferred area, I would say digital economy first and then the creative economy, energy, and then a few other areas that our people are interested in,” he said.

The governor equally noted that he introduced Leadership Academy for young people and the programme has ran 2 streams and graduated about a thousand young people, informing the delegation that another set would soon commence for the year.

Governor Otti, who assured that he would be glad to work with the team, directed the Principal Secretary and Chief Strategy Officer of the Government, Mr Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, to work with the team. He said that he believes that after graduating from tertiary institution, the graduates should get integrated into the wider society and become useful.

“I’ve always also held the view that after the gown, you need to integrate it with the town. You know, the town and gown. “Go and learn something in school. So, you come out, and then you can now decide what you want.

“There should be that integration between the town and the gown,” Gov. Otti said.

Earlier, the team lead of the UNDP, Innocent Ejolu, said that they were in the state to discuss how Abia can scale and sustain youth employment strategically, transparently, and with speed.

He disclosed that the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme is a flagship initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria, funded by the European Union, implemented by UNDP, with political and strategic leadership from the Office of the Vice President.

He said that the programme is a “new phase designed to deploy 20,000 fellows annually nationwide with deeper skills, smarter matching, and stronger retention.

“We’ve placed over 14,000 young Nigerians across all the 36 states and the federal capital territory.

“With Abia’s co-investment, we can scale from hundreds to nearly thousands of fellows, build a pipeline of future civil servants and entrepreneurs, and unlock private capital for human development,” Mr Ejolu stated.

Contributing, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Coordination and Delivery, Office of the Vice President, Mr Akubo Adegbe, while commending the leadership that Governor Otti has provided in the power sector and other sectors of the economy, noted that many national programmes have come and fizzled out in the past, hence, the Vice President has insisted that the programme should be domesticated to align with the visions of the State.

“The only way to make sure it does not follow the path of programmes that have come and gone is to ensure that the implementation of the programme is domesticated.

“We redesigned this 2.0 to better reflect the needs of the people, which is why we are having this conversation, to ensure that the redesigned 2.0 is sustainable,” Adegbe said.

Mr Adegbe, who disclosed that the programme is designed to deploy 20,000 fellows at the minimum across the country every year, made three key requests, including; the Governor’s political support for the programme, his contribution to the basket fund and choice of sectors the Governor thinks would work better for the people of the State.