Mrs Mahama lauds authorities of Ivorian college
The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, has commended authorities of the Modern College of Cocody in Abidjan for their hard work over the years and urged them to use the school’s 50th anniversary celebration to continue to maintain high standards of education.
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Mrs Mahama, who is also the President of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA), was the Special Guest of Honour at the 50th anniversary celebration of the school during a state visit with President John Dramani Mahama to Cote d’Ivoire recently. She was in the company of the First Lady of Cote d’ Ivoire, Mrs Dominique Ouattara.
She acknowledged that 50 years in the life of an institution was an important landmark and deserved to be celebrated as such, adding that it also offered a unique opportunity for the school authorities to pause, reflect and take stock of the past and the present and plan ahead for the future.
Knowledge is wealth
She advised the students to take their studies seriously, pointing out that, “We now live in a global world where knowledge is wealth. Take the opportunity whilst still in school to come out with high grades so that you can mature to be good citizens and lead a successful life.”
The First Lady indicated that the Lordina Foundation was committed to education, indicating that the foundation also facilitated the granting of scholarships to brilliant, needy students to study both at home and abroad and the improvement of school infrastructure in deprived communities.
Culturally linked
The First Lady said Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire were historically, economically and culturally linked together but were only separated by boundaries, stressing that it was, therefore, imperative for the two countries to promote the welfare of the people on both sides of the common border.
“I know our political leaders are working very hard to promote regional integration, but we can accelerate this process by continuing to trade with one another across our borders,” she said.
She expressed her appreciation to Mrs Ouattara for joining her and other First Ladies in Africa in Accra during the 7th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights where two key campaigns, namely the ‘Continental All-In’ and the ‘Ending Child Marriage’ campaigns were launched.
OAFLA
The OAFLA president indicated that those two interventions were very important to her and the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS as a whole, stressing that as the president of OAFLA, she saw the success of these campaigns as a positive step to mark a significant advancement in empowerment of the youth and give them greater control over their own reproductive health.
She congratulated Mrs Ouattara on working so hard to ensure the empowerment of women and upholding the rights of children, the poor and the vulnerable in Cote d’Ivoire.
