Aregbesola makes case for robust female squads in paramilitary agencies

The minister of the interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has said that more women should be encouraged to join the newly formed female squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil defense Corps, (NSCDC), as well as other sister security agencies in order to strengthen the fight against insecurity in the country as women are known to be more determined on the realization of set goals.

The minister made the case during the launching of the NSCDC Gender Policy Document, organized in partnership with Partners West Africa Nigeria, (PWAN), the United Nations Women, (UN Women), and the federal ministry of women’s affairs, with funding from the governments of Norway and Germany, at the weekend in Abuja .

He said women are scientifically and generally known to be more resilient than women and can go to lengths to ensure that they achieve whatsoever they set their mind on doing therefore the training and formation of a special squad made of only females charged with the task of protecting schools from attacks and kidnappings, is apt.

According to him, “Women are biologically prepared by nature to be physically strong and suited to military service and by excluding them from military duties, we have lost the natural advantage that nature has given us and other advantages that women can bring to service will also be lost.

“Women are very loyal, far more loyal than men to every cause they are in and they are also more result oriented as records have shown that women produce more and better result than men in nearly every assignment.”

Aregbesola also discounted the notion that men are physically stronger than women, saying that where women receive the same level of training, (with the same intensity), as men, the men do not have any physical advantage over them as studies has shown.

Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Audi noted that the female squad came to birth to address growing security concerns, especially the kidnappings in schools and to bridge gender gap in the agency.

He said “the NSCDC gender policy is consistent with international, regional and national obligations towards gender mainstreaming and gender equality, particularly the national gender policy of the government which outlines strategies for addressing violence against women in all sectors while creating equal opportunities for both in decision making in all areas and at all levels.

“It was the need to address observed gender inequality in the corps that gave birth to the NSCDC gender policy with the aim of promoting equitable access for both male and female officers to rise to management rank and participate in policy formulation and decision making and address gender based barriers among others.”

While calling for a financial mechanism that would ensure that the policy fully comes to life, the United Nations Women’s (UN Women), representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Comfort Lamptey, said that “Nigeria has come far as a leader in West Africa in implementing the UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women and peace and security.”

Also speaking on the efficiency of women in committing to target realization, minister of women’s affairs, Pauline Tallen, said “women are known to deliver on any given task faster, better and more efficiently.”