The wife of the Abia State Governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti, has reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to restoring dignity and creating economic opportunities for widows and senior citizens across the state.

She made this known during an event organised to mark the 2026 International Widows Day, themed, “Justice, Dignity and Economic Power for Widows.”

Speaking at the event, Mrs. Otti said widowhood should not condemn women to hardship, stressing that ensuring justice for widows was a moral responsibility rather than an act of charity.

She announced that 600 indigent widows across the state would receive N50,000 each as business support grants to help them strengthen their livelihoods.

“Every human being deserves dignity, and no woman should be diminished because she has lost her husband,” she said.

Mrs. Otti described the theme of the year's International Widows Day as a call for society to move beyond sympathy and take practical steps to improve the lives of widows.

“The theme of this year’s International Widows Day is more than a call to reflection, it is a call to conscience. It challenges us to replace indifference with compassion and promises with purposeful action,” she said.

She also highlighted the Dignity Homes Project as one of the flagship initiatives of the Governor Alex Otti administration.

According to her, the N50,000 grant is designed to support nano businesses operated by widows across the state and aligns with the administration’s people-centred development agenda.

“The N50,000 grant is aimed at supporting nano businesses run by widows across the state, in line with our administration’s people-centred development agenda under Governor Alex Otti,” she stated.

The governor’s wife disclosed that 35 indigent widows drawn from the 17 Local Government Areas of the state had already received fully completed homes through the Dignity Homes Project.

She added that plans were underway to construct at least one additional home in each of the 17 LGAs next year.

Mrs. Otti said the government’s support for widows extended beyond housing, noting that beneficiaries had also received cash and food assistance and had been deliberately included in skills acquisition and economic empowerment programmes aimed at promoting self-reliance.

She commended the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection and its Commissioner, Mrs. Ngozi Blessing Felix, for their efforts in strengthening social protection programmes across the state.

Otti Reaffirms Support for Senior Citizens

At another event organised to mark the 2026 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Mrs. Otti reiterated the state government’s commitment to protecting the rights, dignity and welfare of senior citizens.

She noted that the Abia State Senior Citizens Law 2023 was enacted to protect elderly residents and ensure that advancing in age did not result in neglect or exclusion.

“Our elderly citizens are living proof of wisdom, experience, sacrifice and resilience. They nurtured families, built communities, and laid the foundation upon which we stand today,” she said.

Mrs. Otti, however, expressed concern over the challenges facing many elderly people, including neglect, abuse, isolation, inadequate healthcare and financial insecurity.

“Yet many of them still grapple with neglect, abuse, isolation, poor healthcare, and financial insecurity.

“These realities should trouble every conscience and that is why the Abia State Senior Citizens Law 2023 was enacted to ensure that growing old no longer means being forgotten,” she stated.

In her remarks, the Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Ngozi Blessing Felix, commended Governor Otti for making social protection a key pillar of his administration.

She also praised Mrs. Otti for her humanitarian interventions, particularly the Dignity Homes Initiative, which has provided 35 homes to indigent widows across the state’s 17 LGAs.

Felix added that the state government was providing widows with vocational training, financial empowerment and healthcare outreach, while also advocating for their inheritance rights.