Minister laments low budget for women affairs
President Bola Tinubu will on March 7, 2024 inaugurate a transparency and integrity brigade to monitor and ensure that women and children are adequately protected in Nigeria.

Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, disclosed this, yesterday, at a conference for commissioners for ministries of women affairs organised by the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC), supported by the European Union (EU) and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).

The event was themed ‘Critical Issues and Opportunities for Enhancing Rights, Protection and Justice for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities’.

The minister, who lamented the low budgetary allocation to the women affairs ministry in the 2024 appropriation bill, assured that the present administration would not take issues concerning women for granted.

She said the women e-market portal would link up manufacturers, buyers, sellers and others in the marketing chain, to encourage entrepreneurship, skill acquisition and self-reliance.

“So, we are putting up measures and will be bringing on board the integrity brigade, of which all commissioners for women affairs and traditional rulers are part. These are some of the ways we want to save Nigeria. We cannot do this alone and women affairs ministries cannot do this alone.

“We are asking Nigerians to volunteer and join the Integrity Brigade. With this brigade, we will be able to fish out things that belong to women and children, who are over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population. If we take care of their problems, automatically, the nation will do well.”

“On March 7, 2024, the President will be unveiling the Integrity Brigade, mobile courts, e-Market portal for women and so many other things. After March 7, it is no more business-as-usual; you will see action. No stone will be left unturned. If you tamper with any woman or child, you will get the result. We are equally telling the women not to look for trouble because if they look for trouble, they won’t get support,” she said.

The minister further assured that youths, women and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) will be strongly involved in all programmes of government.

Head of Programme, International IDEA, Nigeria, Danladi Plang, urged states to implement the Child’s Rights Act (CRA) and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) to curb any form of violence, especially Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

He said the event was to draw attention to some of the key challenges women, children and PWDs in Nigeria face when they want to access the justice system.

Commissioner for Women Affairs, Akwa Ibom State, Ini Adiakpan, assured that the era when women were neglected in decision-making was over.

Adiakpan, who is the Dean, Commissioners for Women Affairs, hailed the idea of establishing inclusive schools that are not exclusively for disabled persons, which she said would aid the fight against stigmatisation.