The 14th Etsu Kwali, HRH Luka Ayedoo Nizasan II, a retired Correctional Officer and Child Protection expert has called on the Federal Government to explore a greater level of involvement for women when policies concerning them are being made.
The Etsu of Kwali Area Council which is in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was Keynote Speaker at the ongoing 2024 Law Week of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria, Abuja branch, with the theme The Impact of Insecurity on Gender: Empowering Women for a safer Nigeria.
It is worthy of note that in Nigeria, women and girls make up at least 79% of approximately 2.5 million people displaced across the country’s northeast as a result of insurgency.
Submitting that “for every conflict, women are at the receiving end”, the Royal father added that “they are often treated as commodities and spoils of war”, citing the example of Chibok girls and Dapchi from where Leah Sharibu was taken into captivity.
The Etsu pointed out that aside from being directly affected by insecurity, women are badly affected when men are killed in conflicts, as they take on new roles of being both fathers and mothers to their wards and families.
He also revealed that when the men are not there, women and their daughters face all manner of injustices, oppression and stigmatisation in their communities and society.
Etsu Kwali argued that enacting policies concerning women when they are not part of the decision-making will be ineffective.
This according to him is because the direct victims in every matter always have a better understanding of what they want.
“They understand the issues better because they are directly involved. A gender perspective in such policies is required. If I suffer from a particular cause, I should be part of the decision aimed at bringing resolution to it,” he concluded.
Likewise, the Chairperson of FIDA Nigeria Abuja Branch, Chibuzo Maureen Nwosu counselled that “to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls by 2030 in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal Five (SDG 5), the precise circumstance of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict states must be addressed.”
Ms. Nwosu observed that: “Nigeria is one of the countries where the manifestations of violent conflicts and crimes have significantly heightened the spate of insecurity in the last two decades.”
Chairperson of the 2024 Law Week Planning Committee, Chioma Onyenucheya-Uko had in her welcome address stated that: “The theme of the FIDA Nigeria, Abuja Branch’s 2024 Law Week, is one that compels us to interrogate the intersection of insecurity and gender, and the urgent need to empower women for a safer Nigeria.
“Today, we stand united in acknowledging the undeniable truth that insecurity affects everyone its impact on women is unique, profound, and often underrepresented in national discourse.”
