The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen on Thursday lamented the hardship women who are widowed as a result of insurgency attacks are passing through in Nigeria.
She spoke during an ‘Emergency Dialogue on the Current Security Issues in Nigeria and Its Effects on Women and Children’, which held at the Ministry of Women Affairs, Abuja.
The minister urged the women to get involved in restoring peace through dialogue, noting that women and children were most casualties as insecurity involving insurgency, Kidnapping, abductions increases by the day.
She said: “This is a clarion call for us as women and concerned mothers to take or rightful place in redefining our engagement in addressing peace in our communities and in Nigeria at large, as the spate of insecurity increases by the day. We see and we hear the increasing rate at which lives are lost daily.
“In view of the sad occurrences of the past that have engulfed our beloved country, by activities of mindless individuals, abducting and killing our citizens; including women and children, old and young, I am heartbroken and weeping bitterly and I know that Nigerian Women and other sympathizers are standing in solidarity with us at this time.
“As a mother, I feel the pain and I commiserate with every woman who has lost a child, a husband or a loved one.
“To every Nigerian woman who has lost her source of livelihood while trying to save her life and ensuring her children are safe, we are with you.
“In the chorus to the Women’s Anthem, emphasis is on “Equality, Development and Peace.” Therefore, there cannot be peace in a society devoid of equality.
“In the same way, we cannot be talking about development without equality.
“The Nigerian women’s demand for equality therefore resonates in a peaceful environment, where the joyful noises of children are music to the ears; where girls are safe in their boarding houses eagerly looking forward to completing their education; where women are walking freely on the streets without being molested; where young men and women going for the mandatory National Youth Service Scheme to contribute their quota in service to our dear motherland, without parents living in fear; young women looking forward to having suitors/husbands in uniform without fear of becoming widowed in their prime as a result of mindless wars, caused by insurgents leading to loss of lives of these gallant officers and men in defence of our territorial integrity.
“Indeed, the prevalence of rape and sexual assault, which tends to generate fear and helps to silence campaigns for social, economic and political rights.
“The true and pure nature of the woman is also depicted in the words of our women’s Anthem “… Women can’t be silent, when all around the world people hurt and hungry children cry…”
The Minister stressed the need for women to always consult.e together to discuss the challenges of insecurity to chat a way forward in addressing the growing challenges.
According to her, the dialogue was a preamble to women event that would hold at the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja which she believed, women’s voices would be raised together for God’s intervention.
“Our voices must be heard and positively too. Across the world the role of Women in Peace Building has been identified as very crucial because of their special place in society.
“From the ECOWAS region to the African Union and the United Nations, it has been recognized that women’s involvement is crucial to the peace building process.
“In the communities, they constitute half of the population and no meaningful intervention in the peace process can be achieved without men partnering with them.
“Women are also the bedrock of the care economy. They are the mothers who give birth to the war mongers, they are the hands that rock the cradle. Families and the whole communities are affected when they are excluded from peace building.
“Women do not make war, they are advocates for peace, because they know the pain of child birth and the consequences of loosing such precious lives.
“Women have played crucial roles as peacekeepers, relief workers, observers and mediators in Africa.
“From the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Burundi, the roles they played have been documented as contributing to the peace building agreement.
“A study carried out by the International Peace Institute between 1989 and 2011 brought the researchers to the conclusion that when women are included in peace processes, there is a 35 percent increase in the probability that a peace agreement will last 15 years or more.
“An article by the United States Institute of Peace opines that; “The end to these conflicts cannot be forged through only a top-down peace process, with only armed actors at the negotiating table.
“Instead, it requires a more inclusive process – one that includes women playing more pivotal roles in building a peace from the bottom up as well as from the top down, engaging multiple stakeholders.
“Therefore, this is the time for Nigerian women to rise up to say enough is enough, we want peace, we do not want to loose our children anymore. In Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs provides leadership, overall guidance and supervision for the implementation of the Women Peace and Security Agenda as presented in the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325.
“The UNSCR 1325 recognizes women’s role as peace builders and agents of change, and calls on UN Member States, Civil society, and the international community to ensure women’s increased participation in conflict prevention and peace building processes, at all levels.
“It is important that every Nigerian Woman participates in peace keeping negotiations at community level, while the Government strategizes at National levels to find solutions to this unhealthy menace that has engulfed the nation and has made people live in constant fear.
“As the Minister of Women and as a concerned Mother, let me assure you all that we feel and hear you. Our efforts at this time are not just to repair what is broken right now, but to establish a dependable security for the future.
“Let me use this opportunity to assure you that we aware of how vulnerable Nigerians are at this time.
“I want to therefore appeal to Nigerian women young and old to please give this Government under President Muhammadu Buhari an opportunity to further address the burning issues that have been raised.
“Your feelings are valid and we stand with you, but I am asking that we give the Government at all levels time to address these issues. We cannot afford a repeat of what we experienced in the past during the EndSars protests which was hijacked by criminals.
“I know that the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Aisha Buhari, whose voice stands against injustice is also with us in this crusade as a loving and caring mother.
:So also is the wife of the Vice-Preisent, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo. We will not forget to commend the efforts of our Armed Forces who are on top of the situation trying to bring the perpetrators of these appalling attacks across the country to justice”, Tallen concluded.
