A former first lady of Kogi State, Ambassador Aisha AuduEmeje, has called on women to collectively redefine their strategies and re-present the ‘Gender Parity and Prohibition of Violence Against Women Bill’ to the National Assembly for passage into law.
Audu-Emeje also challenged women to step out from their regular corridors of complaints and employ correct strategies needed to solve their problems.
“Women in positions of authority should reach out to other women to do what women need to do; as such, they would even command followership as do men,” she said.
In March 2016, the Senate, at its plenary session, voted against and consequently dumped the Gender Parity Bill.
The bill is for an Act to incorporate and enforce certain provisions of the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the protocol of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the rights of women in Africa and other matters connected with it. The bill was thrown out by senators amid differing opinions, ranging from cultural to religious.
I was embarrassed when the bill was turned down
In an exclusive chat with our correspondent, in Abuja, Audu-Emeje, who is the President of A3 Foundation, expressed shock that the bill did not scale through the second reading at the National Assembly.
Citing low level of awareness as a factor responsible for the misfortune that befell the bill, she called on women to redefine their strategies and restart the processes for its passage.
“People would not support what they know too little about. I was embarrassed when the bill was turned down because we did not advocate enough; we didn’t create enough awareness and advocacy on why the bill needed to be passed,” she said.
According to her, in other countries, where similar bills were passed into law by parliament, “women created necessary awareness for the bill and sought its passage. So, we should re-strategise and restart the quest for the passage of that bill into law.
“Our male counterparts freely advocate for interests in their domain. Advocacy may have been difficult, but it would certainly have succeeded, because those who tried it succeeded.
“Women need to work more cordially with other women in order to succeed and end the inequality gap as well as the discrimination that comes with it.
The former Kogi State first lady further said, “Men do not constitute a threat to women in Nigeria. Men are our husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles and so on. What you present to them is what you get. I have never heard or seen men rise against women, saying they will not get positions or due privileges.
“I believe that every man sends his daughter to school equally with his son. So, who is stopping who? So, I think that assumption is a mental thing that has to stop.”
