By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Women Supporting Women Network (WSWN) has called on government at all levels to redouble efforts to ensure the safety of schools, students and staff in the country.
The founder of the network, Mrs Toyin Omozuwa, made the call in a statement on Monday in Abuja, while commemorating the 2021 International Womens Day.
The theme of the celebration is entitled: Women in leadership: achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.
Omozuwa said relevant authorities should renew their commitment to making schools safe where minds and characters were developed.
She described the theme as apt, adding there was need for collective reflection and social actions geared at eliminating barriers that confine women to infantile positions.
It is however sad to note that the future of the girl-child is gravely threatened as outlaws have declared war on education.
She said Nigeria could be left behind in the global march to achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world, if the access of the girl-child to quality education was undermined.
According to her, the desire to achieve an equal future in a COVID-19 world cannot be attained, if women are not enabled to control resources and regulations.
For Nigeria to develop sustainably and inclusively, womens participation in politics must be incentivised.
Every woman should be able to aspire to leadership, without fear of being stigmatised and side-lined merely because she is a woman.
The under-presentation of women in public sphere retards development, Omozuwa said.
According to her, the day offers the global community a rare opportunity to celebrate women and applauds their unparalleled contributions to human development.
It also forges alliance for progress and eradicates social norms and cultural practice that retard the growth of women in society.
It is important to salute the enterprising spirit of Nigerian women.
Due to the multidimensional ravages of COVID-19, women are still extending the frontiers of innovation, delivering high-value service, and strengthening the ties of national unity, she said. (NAN)
Source: NAN News