The wife of the former governor of Katsina State, Hadiza Masari, has commended the establishment of the Concerned Sisters Forum (CSF), which aims to promote unity, empowerment and collaboration among women across the country.

Mrs Masari gave the commendation at the inauguration and induction of members into the forum on Saturday in Abuja.

According to her, the forum, with the motto, “Bonding for Progress”, came at a time that it is needed the most.

“I believe that the CSF is aimed at bringing women together, and show concern, not only to ourselves, but to other women who are not members.

“I have seen members coming from Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna and other states. This means the forum is a serious one.

“I believe that this is going to be a great forum. There are communities in which our sisters are suffering from one form of challenge to the other.

“We can render help to such people. I believe this forum is important to women in Nigeria and it has come to stay. I hereby declare this forum inaugurated today in the name of Allah, the most merciful.

“I also want to commend this initiative, because it will go a long way to helping women to over come most of the challenges they are facing and also encourage inclusivity in governance,” Mrs Masari said.

Mrs Masari is also a member of the board of trustees of the forum.

Meanwhile, the founder and chief executive officer, Binta Ibrahim, described Mrs Masari as a dependable personality who had played significant roles in the lives of women and in the activities of the National Council of Women Society.

Ms Ibrahim explained that the forum was birthed after a strong show of women’s solidarity during her daughter’s wedding in Bida.

“CSF was born from a simple but powerful vision, nurtured over the years that when women come together they can achieve anything they want.

“This is a message we are sending to the next political arena, by the special grace of God, we would see a lot of women handling affairs in this country.

“CSF stands for empowerment, capacity building, financial inclusion and support for one another as well as advocacy and collaborations.

“We are guided by clear principles and simple guidelines, respect for one another, be accountable, and participate actively; these values shape our aims and objectives.

“These are supporting one another in celebration and challenges, promoting members businesses and services, encouraging self reliance and empowerment, providing mentorship and leadership guidelines.

“Others are foster friendship and sisterhood, conflict resolution programmes and giving back to the society. We operate by collectively coming together to make decision and move ahead together,” Ms Ibrahim said.

She also encouraged members to attend meetings regularly, participate in volunteerism, give feedbacks, be willing to lead and learn, adding that CSF would succeed when all members take actions together.

Also, a member of the board of trustees, Salima Makama, represented by Becky James, said CSF expected women to stand together and not walk alone.

She said that the forum would be supporting, celebrating and encouraging one another, because a lot of women were going through a lot in the society and some were dying in silence.

The executive secretary, Deborah Ishaya, encouraged members to invite other women to join the forum for a greater future.

The highpoint of the event was the induction of women from different states of the federation into the forum by Mrs Masari.

(NAN)