Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has said that the President Bola Tinubu’s administration is committed to empowering women across all sectors in the country.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim made the remarks at the tee-off ceremony of the 26th edition of the IBB Ladies Amateur Golf Open on Friday in Abuja.
The tournament, which attracted over 450 female golfers from hosts Nigeria and five other African nations comprising Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, is tagged “The Abuja Experience”.
The minister, who expressed her support for initiatives that promote women’s participation and success in various fields, especially in sports, said women can excel when given the opportunity to participate and contribute to the nation’s development.
“This is part of my mandate as a marching order from Mr President, Bola Tinubu, that women should be supported across all sectors. We must activate, cultivate and support to build the potential of women across all sectors.
“We know that when women do things, they do it properly and we like to support women to contribute to the economy of Nigeria. We support them in participation and ensuring that we address their challenges. We also support them with regulation and policies to support women in sports,” she said.
While welcoming the participants to the competition, Sulaiman-Ibrahim harped on giving women the needed support which she said was crucial to Nigeria’s growth and prosperity.
“It means excellence, growth, economic development and prosperity because a healthy woman or people make a healthy nation. When women are healthy, the nation is healthy. Golf plays a critical role in ensuring that we are healthy. We invest in the total well-being and welfare of women.”
“I like to welcome you all to Abuja. We have many countries coming to play in this particular competition. I want to assure you all that you are going to be wowed because when women play, they play for excellence.”
The Lady Captain of the Club, Julie Donli, said the tournament had grown significantly, fostering camaraderie, promoting excellence in women’s golf, and inspiring the next generation of female golfers.
She said that the IBB Ladies Amateur Golf Open has been promoting women’s sports and empowering women across Africa adding that the minister’s support further underscores the importance of the tournament for the country’s development.
“Our goal is to continuously elevate the standard of this event and to create opportunities for more women to participate and enjoy the sport.
“In addition to the opportunity for participants to compete with some of the best golfers from across the country and beyond, the competition is a celebration of women in sport,” the former Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) said.
The chairman, technical committee of the competition and the first Nigerian female professional golfer, Uloma Mbuko, revealed that the event would also allow players to earn world rankings.
“In this category, we have female professionals, those in the main event playing off handicaps of 0-18, a division for handicaps of 19-28, veterans, super veterans, and a special category. This tournament is all-inclusive, and we are looking forward to world-standard golfing over the next three days.”
Sporting Tribune reports that a giant trophy and a cash prize of $5,000 are up for grabs as participants continue to slug it out in the next three days for laurels.
