‘Women are endangered species in Northern Nigeria’

The National Association of Women Entrepreneurs (NAWE) has warned that the incessant abduction and kidnap of schoolgirls portend danger to the girl-child education in Nigeria.

NAWE said the abduction of schoolchildren has made women become endanger species in Northern Nigeria.

Addressing Journalists in Abuja as part of its activities to mark International Women’s Day, the national president of NAWE, Barrister Vera Ndanusa, said what women want was an equal future free from stigma, stereotype and violence.

“It is unfortunate that women have become endangered species in northern Nigeria with the abduction of schoolgirls almost on weekly basis thereby hampering their educational pursuit,” Ndanusa said.

“Even at home front, women are not psychologically stable due to the trauma they go through whenever their loved ones are kidnapped or killed by insurgents or bandits. The increase in banditry, kidnapping and insurgency across the nation especially Northeast and Northwest are unacceptable.”

The group while urging government to sign into law the 35 per cent affirmative action, where women representation in power and decision-making would be enhanced, stressed the need for the government’s support with a special focus on women.

She said the signing of affirmative action into law would reduce the marginalization of women in the social, political, and cultural spheres in society.

Ndanusa recalled that women in Nigeria had failed to attain the minimum one-third (30 per cent) women’s representation stipulated in several regional and global conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.

“Women of the world want and deserve an equal future free from stigma, stereotypes and violence; a future that’s sustainable, peaceful, with equal rights and opportunities for all. To get us there, the world needs women at every table where decisions are being made,” Ndanusa said.

“Women’s full and effective participation and leadership in of all areas of life drives progress for everyone. Yet, women are still underrepresented in public life and decision-making, as revealed in the UN Secretary-General’s recent report.

“This is often the case in the absence of intentionally established structures to lower the cost of entrance, safeguards against the culture of politics as a life-and-death venture.

“Instead, women’s progress in gaining access to political power was yet again diminished by an ever-expanding host of structural, functional, and personal factors.”

Ndanusa called for domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) act to reduce gender based violence against women and girls

She urged government to provide agricultural inputs to women in rural areas to enhance food production and reduce workload through the use of appropriate technologies along the chain of agriculture production.