The Anambra State government has felicitated with Nigeria’s first female, Dame Virgy Etiaba, on her 78 birthday. Mrs Etiaba made history when she became in 2006 a state governor following Governor Peter Obi’s impeachment by the Anambra State House of Assembly.
A statement by C. Don Adinuba, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, described Mrs Etiaba as a worthy former governor and a pride to Anambra State “in and out of public office.
“Mrs Etiaba hit the ground running and fixed a lot of critical infrastructure, especially roads.”
The state government highlighted Etiaba’s exemplary work in her private life where she earned high marks as an educationist for 35 years before emerging as a pathfinder in party politics and public leadership.
According to the statement, the former governor “deserves celebration for traversing the length and breadth of Nigeria, teaching in Kafanchan, Aba, Port Harcourt and Nnewi before founding Bennet Etiaba Memorial Schools, Nnewi, which she led with uncommon diligence and application.”
He stated that Mrs Etiaba was a loyal Deputy-Governor who served her principal courageously at a time Anambra State politics was fraught with much rancour.
Commissioner Adinuba disclosed that both Governor Willie Obiano and his wife, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, have spoken to Dame Etiaba, noting that “it was largely due to her strength of character that she did not let the ship of state go askew by dutifully stepping in as the governor against multiform odds from November 2006 to February 2007”.
Governor Obiano enjoined other women to emulate the qualities of Dame Etiaba who served the nation as a working wife and actually redoubled her service when she lost her beloved husband.
The governor urged Mrs. Etiaba not to relent in her continued drive to inculcate discipline and requisite moral instruction in the young ones.
