Women group under the aegis of Women Supporting Women Network (WSWN) has charged the Federal and State Governments on their renewed commitment to making Nigerian schools safe and protecting the girl-child.
Recall that Zamfara, Niger, and the Katsina States respectively were targets of mass abductions of male and female school children from their hostels.
It said this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,” is not only apt, but it is
forward-looking, which it said is a clarion call for collective reflection and social actions geared at eliminating barriers that confine women to infantile positions.
In a statement signed in Abuja, Founder, and President of the group, Mrs. Toyin Omozuwa said the desire to achieve an equal future in a COVID-19 world cannot be attained, if women are not enabled to control resources and regulations.
She added that due to the multidimensional ravages of COVID-19, women are still extending the frontiers of innovation, delivering high-value service, and strengthening the ties of national unity, adding that it is important to salute the enterprising spirit of the Nigerian women.
Omozuwa said: “Today offers the global community a rare opportunity to celebrate women, applaud their unparalleled contributions to human development, forge alliances for progress, and eradicate social norms and cultural practices that retard the growth of women in society.
“It is however sad to note that the future of the girl-child is gravely threatened as outlaws have declared war on education. The mass abduction of female students is now a norm. Our schools are no longer safe spaces. When education is not guaranteed, the future is endangered.
“To this end, we call on all relevant authorities to renew their commitment to making our schools safe and sacred grounds where minds and characters are developed. Nigeria will be left behind in the global march to achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world if the access of the girl-child to quality education is undermined.”
She further added that: “For Nigeria to develop sustainably and inclusively, women’s participation in politics must be incentivised. Every woman should be able to aspire to leadership, without fear of being stigmatised and sidelined, merely because, she is a woman.
“The under-representation of women in the public sphere retards development and when women are voiceless society is powerless.”
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