For sustainable Women development and improved governance Senator Stella Oduah representing Anambra North Senatorial District has called on Nigeria Women to aspire for leadership positions to enable them participate actively in making decisions that will improve the conditions of women and the nation.
Oduah who is also the vice chairman of the committee on women affairs disclosed this during the budget defence presentation by the Ministry and the National Centre for Women Development, NCWD. She called on women in leadership positions to carry others along.
“It is indeed necessary to incorporate women into governance at all levels. We need to get women involved, we need women at the mainstream sectors, we need to ensure that women feel part of this entity called Nigeria, and if we are to neglect that, the nation as a whole could be handicapped in that very respect because women have innate requisite skills to move the nation forward.
“Sincerely I believe that we should move beyond the stage of empowering women to where women should empower the society. I want all the women in leadership to know that it is our responsibility to unlock women potentials because in no time, women will be our country’s saviour and this is nothing but fact.” She stated
While addressing the Director General of NCWD Onyeka Onwenu, she reiterated the need to make the programmes and trainings all-embracing in practice by including girls/ women in the rural areas so that they also could benefit fully and be empowered.
“The schemes used in the Women Training Centres (WTCs) should be improved on while exploring other possible means through which the women/girl-child would not just be trained but will also be effectively empowered.
“I welcome the plans and projections of the NCWD which is quite practical and value-intensive such that if properly executed will help achieve a lot for women.” Oduah added
Onwenu briefed the committee on various strategies, plans and programmes targeted at improving the lots of women and the girl-child, and called for the involvement of Ministry of Women Department.
She decried the neglects and sufferings that women are going through in Nigeria due to lack of basic education, self-awareness, basic business/ partisan skills especially in the rural areas and IDP camps.
“Considering the IDPs and the number of orphans that are there, there is no ministry that can take care of them than the Women Affairs. Women are mothers, we are nurturing in nature, so we are supposed to take care of that”. Onwenu said
The committee chaired by Oluremi Tinubu resolved to improve the cause of Nigerian women and the girlchild by advocating for more funds and recovering missing ones.
Tinubu added that the 123 million Naira appropriated will not be enough to tackle the challenges and programmes that will alleviate the conditions of Nigerian women.
