The wife of the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Church (TREM), Bishop Peace Okonkwo and former chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika have said they want to “die empty,” leaving no talent or gift unused, as they strive to overcome barriers hindering women’s progress in the nation.
This commitment was revealed during the Mission to West Africa 2024 conference, a three-day gathering organised by Kingdom Apostolic Revival Ministries (KARM) in collaboration with the Apostles in the Market Place (AiMP) Network, Trem, Times Square Church and Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos State.
The theme is: “Equipping the Equippers,” commenced with focus on women under the banner of “The Rising Woman,” hosted at the TREM Headquarters in Lagos, brought together women from diverse backgrounds to delve into discussions and initiatives to uplift.
Okonkwo urged women not to remain idle but to embrace their passions and God-given callings. Reflecting on her own journey, she shared her dedication to rescuing vulnerable girls from the streets, highlighting the transformative power of taking action.
She said: “I had passion for ‘Girls on the streets should not be thrown away’, so I decided to open a home for them, I was able to build a nine-storey building, how do they come into the home? They walk on the road and saw my flyer, and they come to me and say they don’t have a place to live, we train them and now about three of them are out of the university and others are doing vacation.
“Men, don’t stop your wife’s vision, God has called them as he had called you, so, leave them to exercise their God-given given gifts.
She added: “Awosika said she wants to die empty, I also want to die empty, exhausting all the God-given talents in me.”
The convener, John Enelamah highlighted the necessity of mindset shift to recognise the invaluable contributions of women to society. He urged women to embrace their roles as agents of change and blessings to their families, emphasising the importance of education and virtue in shaping a brighter future for Nigeria.
“Women are important, they need to find their place in God’s plan first for themselves and for the nation. Unless they think their position there will be a gap and that gap can stop us from becoming the kind of nation we can be. Women are extremely important and we live in a generation where the women are more educated, today, more enlightened today than in previous generations. So, they should be women of virtue. Let it be a blessing to their families, not a conflict between them and their husbands.”
