By Emeka Nwokocha
Nigerian women have been charged to take their pride of place in the Nigerian society rather than playing a second fiddle in the political and economic institutions in the country.
Mrs. Rachael Ruppee, Executive Director and Founder of Development Initiative for Community Impact, DICI, gave the charge on Monday 25 March, 2019, while celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) with a group, Women in College of Education (WICE), Delta State College of Education, Mosogar Chapter.
Speaking to the women of WICE, including female students of the school, Ruppee called on Nigerian women to show more interest in politics by seeking elective positions, noting that when women shun naivety and participate prominently in politics, they would be able to address the bottlenecks that laden the progress path of women.
She told the crowd of women that the International Women’s Day, being celebrated on 8 March is a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and celebrate women who have recorded huge achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
Ruppee said that the theme of the 2019 International Women’s Day celebration is “Balance for Better” saying that the programme aims to amplifying women voices towards promoting peace and security in the society to engender political and socioeconomic prosperity in the society.
Continuing, Ruppe stressed the need to shun all forms of discrimination against women in every facet of human endeavour. She recalled that the 1995, Beijing Declaration for 35 per cent Affirmative Action For Women, demands 35 percent involvement of women in all governance processes. She however expressed concern that Nigerian women have not leveraged the opportunities the policy presented to push for their rights over the years.
“A peep into the political activities in Nigeria since 1999, shows that women have not shown enough interest in politics, If you don’t have political power, it will be difficult to influence the desired change and negotiate for the betterment of women.
“This is the reason we are calling on women to go into politics so that they can make valuable contributions to promoting the inalienable rights of women in Nigeria,” she stressed.
While making a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender equality, Ruppee tasked women on productivity and capacity building in order to close the wide gender gap in Nigeria.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Ihuoma Babatope, Chairperson, WICE, M osogar chapter, described the occasion as a memorable one, and an eye opener to the women with regard to exposing them to valuable information they could leverage to protecting and promoting the rights of Nigerian women to ensure every barrier hindering women from assuming leadership positions were removed.
“The programme has given us {women) more courage, more confidence, it has also given us reasons to amplify our voices. From henceforth, we are going to enhance our capacity and make our voices heard.”
Continuing, Babatope added that in recent time women in Nigeria are beginning to assert themselves in the society at various fields of human endeavour.
“From all indications it is obvious that women are gradually launching themselves to recognition. It may interest you to know that women are now holding top positions in institutions they were never known before, even in the academic environment, women are asserting themselves very strongly. I believe in few years’ time, women will earn their respect in Nigeria.”
Speaking on behalf of the female students of Delta State College of Education, Mosogar, Edafe Mercy thanked the Executive Director of DICI, Mrs. Rachael Ruppee for the session, saying, “I’m happy to be at this informative programme. I’ve learned a lot about my fundamental rights as a woman; it has taught us to be outspoken and how to develop our potentials to the benefit of our society and protection of our rights.”
Other personalities at the programme include Eshibogwu Jaye, PRO, WICE, Mosogar, Ogude Esther, Vice Chairperson, WICE, Mosogar, Juliet Tonukari, Owobu Joyce, and Mrs. Afoh Monica.
