Tinubu said the programme is to advance the course of women
and children in the country with a focus on empowerment and protecting rights.
Speaking on the annual International Women’s Day observed on
March 8, the president said his administration is working to develop policies
that will enable the growth of women but noted that policies alone cannot fix
everything.
“We need a change in attitude, the determination to make
things work, the determination to build our nation. This means knocking down
the outdated obstacles that hold women back,” he said.
“Social and gender norms are a critical underlying factor
limiting the progress of Nigerian women, there are so many unspoken barriers to
women empowerment, many of this start from birth of our female children and run
the course of their lives, limiting them mentally and physically, this has to
stop.
“This administration is very concerned about ending norms
that affect our girl child and women. We need to take the diversity issue very
serious, we need to do things differently, take a leap of faith, hire, promote
and invest in our women.
“We know what it takes to have a more gender-inclusive
country, we need to all make a deliberate effort to achieve this. It is time to
empower our women.
“There is a limit, of course, to what the government can
accomplish on its own. We extend a hand of partnership to all the stakeholders
present and beyond, imploring them to join us in building our women and nation.
“Think of these and
also of the millions of Nigerian women today, brimming with talent and
potential, just waiting for the chance make their mark and turn their dreams
into reality.”
‘WE’LL HEAD TO CJN’S
OFFICE AND CRY FOR COMPASSION’
Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, minister of women affairs and social
development, said the ministry will fight for the rights of women through legal
means supported by the Naija Save Nigeria integrity/transparency brigade.
Kennedy-Ohanenye said the brigade was created to ensure
cases concerning women are promptly attended to at the courts.
“If the plan fails we
will head to the CJN’s office and cry to him, he will have compassion on us
because he has a mother,” the minister said.
“We will cry to the ones in the states and they will have
compassion on us and listen. There’s nothing we will not achieve if we do so
peacefully.
“If a woman has been
maltreated, we will come out and make noise, come to our aid and trust me they
will come to our aide.
“If a child is maltreated, we will make the same noise and
attract attention of those who will come to our aid. We are asking for more
compassion as women and a human being as a whole and reduce our wickedness and
greed, trust me the country will move further.”
The minister added that women do not want to remain silent
or “continue to make noise in the usual way by going on protests knowing that
Tinubu cares for them”.
