Good Afternoon The organizers of the 2nd Quarterly Emerging African Leaders Conference, Fellow Non Governmental Organizations Initiators, Participants, Gentlemen of the Press.
It gives me great pleasure to be present at this year’s
Emerging Africa’s Leadership Conference. I must appreciate the organizers for
working so hard to put this together. This afternoon, I would be speaking on
Women Empowerment and Leadership which I have termed “The Empowerment and
Leadership Position of Women in the Grassroots of Edo State: The Gender
Implication.” It is with great joy in my heart that I share my recent
experience with everyone here present of a 3 – Day Groundbreaking Event which
my Organization Society to Heighten Awareness of Women and Children Abuse
(SOTHAWACA) in conjunction with the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative
Journalism #Reportwomen #thevoicesofwomenintheruralcommunitiesmustbeheard project
in 5 Local Governmet Areas of Edo State (Oredo: Benin-City, Egor,
Esan Central: Iruekpen, Owan East: Afuze and Okpokhumi-Emai and Etsako Central:
Auchi). Basically the project was aimed at “Promoting Women’s Empowerment,
Political Leadership and Governance in Edo State.” The objective of the program
was aimed at addressing the issues that concern women in the grassroots
communities, elected women representatives in politics especially the
participation of women in the decision making process both in the homes and at
work and all women including those with disabilities. We sought to inquire
whether enough awareness had been created for them at the grassroots level. We
delved into such issues concerning gender equality e.g. livelihood, housing,
health, education, sanitation and developmental infrastructure. We also touched
such sensitive issues like trafficking in women, commercial sex workers
including child prostitution, rape and defilement of children and sexual
harassment at the workplace.
The truth of the matter is that so many of us in this
room do have great interest in our families who still reside in the grassroots.
One question I always ask is “how many of us here present will truly go back to
be a part of it all to make it what you would so desire? As I seek to make my
presentation, I would like to leave you all with this question. My experience
in the Non Governmental Organization world that operates from the grassroots,
my dealings with the locals has taught me that you cannot seat on the fence if
you truly want any form of development to occur in our rural communities. One
thing we must all strive to do is to promise ourselves that rural communities
are great and that for such magnitude of greatness to be achieved, a task must
be put in place for it to be done. And
it requires our individual and collective commitment to action. Since the era
of the 1995 Beijing conference, Nigeria’s participation on issues related to
the empowerment and leadership position of women has been on the front burner
at many conferences both nationally and internationally. This goes to show the
level of seriousness the dilemma women suffer with special reference to the
promotion of their rights to equal participation and representation in key
decision-making at all levels particularly in our rural communities. In dealing
with this we must look at how to improve on the development of the community
and how best to introduce growth in order to expand or improve on the standards
of living of our rural women in some way. For us to be able to determine in
which way we can view development in relationship to empowerment and leadership,
we can leverage on the theme of this conference which refers to Leadership and
Global Opportunities. Women Development can therefore be seen from the
perspective of the act or process of causing to grow the adult female person so
that she would be empowered in order for her to achieve leadership and have
access to global opportunities.
For us to successfully understand development,
empowerment and leadership, we need to take into cognizance certain parameters
as our yardstick to guide us through. The UN Millennium Goals has been set to
be achieved by 2015 for all developing countries of which Nigeria is a
signatory to. These goals therefore give us a context within which we can
position development. The Goals cover six (6) main areas:
1. Extreme Poverty Eradication
2. Education
3. Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
4. Health Care
5. Environment Sustainability
6. Global Partnership for Development
It is worth noting that 7 out of the prescribed UN goals
focus on Global Partnership for any form of development to be achievable. In
this regard, we must from now on start to seek avenues on how best to attain a
much wider platform or framework to help us while we think of ways to channel
our needs. By so doing hopefully, we can come together as a unifying force to
galvanize to action.
A Women
Development Framework in Perspective
Family Unit
- Commitment to Family name/prestige/integrity
- Child – Parent relationship (Freedom of Expression)
- Discipline in the home
- Attitude to Women, Male Child, Elderly, Youth,
Disabled, Dead, Extended Family Pressures
- Reward and Sanction systems - Role Modeling
Individual Role
- Personal Vision
- Mindsets
- Approach to Life
- Lifestyle
- Belief
- Character
- Commitment
- Response to Peer Pressure
Religious Unit
(Traditional African and Modern Religion)
- Belief Systems
- Values Instruction
- Reward Systems - Fear Levels
- Understanding of and Attitude to Consequences of
Behavior
- Attitude to Sex
- Role Modeling
Educational
Institutions
-Teachers
- Stack Illiterates
Environmental/Public
Influences
-Cultural Attitudes
-Attitude to Women, Male Child, Elderly, Youth, Disabled,
Dead, Extended Family Pressures, Wealth
- Entrepreneurship
- Can Do Attitude
- Reading Culture
- Peer Group Influences (Cults etc)
- Reward and Sanction system
- Information in Public domain o TV, Radio, Print
- Other Environmental Influences
Government Support
– Federal, State and LG - (Taxation )
- Federal, State and LG - Youth policy
- Social infrastructure
- Education – Primary. Secondary, Vocational and Tertiary
Inc Libraries, Information Centers
- Health
- Urban and Rural
Planning
- Security
- Financial Systems
- Credit Financing etc
- Overall Economic Growth (Jobs, Wealth creation etc)
- Leadership by Example
Partnership for
Development
- Community Partnerships
- Grassroots “Friends”
- Intra Nigeria
Partnership
- Global Partnership
All the above factors make up the Mind, Body, Character,
Qualitative and Sustainable Livelihood, Responsible Adulthood of a Woman’s
Development.
From all that has been said, we can see that the whole
context of this framework is to represent an all inclusive approach to
Development which recognizes all of the various components that contribute to
development. As can be seen from the highlighted words just a few of these
issues are addressed by the UN Millennium Goals. The message is simple, the
development of our people is in our hands and it’s a total and not selective
approach to development! With this general overview, a clear understanding of
the context of empowerment and leadership position of our women in the
grassroots cannot be overemphasized. In all the Local Government Areas we
visited and worked in, it is important to note that the primary base on the
continued entrenchment and perpetuation of our traditional cultures as
characteristics of all the various stereotypes of women who permeate so many
ethnic groups in the Nation using Edo State as my focal points. Furthermore, one can say that many women have
suffered and are still suffering varied traumatic experiences arising from this
categorization which now has manifested itself in gender discrimination and
inequality that has far more reaching implications for the empowerment and
leadership positions of rural women in our rural communities. The bedrock and corn stone of any society from
which any known individual develops his/her self-concept the acquisition of a
generally and socially acceptable norm which is of immense benefits to our
survival is the family institution. It is an undisputed fact that women play a
major role in our communities on a daily basis. Such roles can never be
overemphasized when she is performing her duties as a wife and mother. She is
often regarded as the mother of all living. These days mother of the nation. By
nature, women have been programmed to reproduce and care for her home
especially her children. For this singular reason, we can say most correctly
that the role and position of a woman in any family can be characterized as
expressive in the sense that they provide warmth, security and emotional
support to her immediate and extended family. Essentially and effectively, her
role in the socialization of young children cannot be ignored. As a mother, she
contributes to the stabilization of all adult personalities not forgetting the
fact that her husband is inclusive. Simply put, the instrumental roles of the
men and the expressive roles of women complement each other. In lay-man’s
language, they are like button and button-hole. They lock together to promote
family unity and solidarity. Not forgetting that there is a genetically based
predisposition that forms a close emotional bond between a mother and that
child which is very critical to the overall well-being / development of the
child. It is the painstaking efforts of the mother who ensures this close
emotional bond is obtained otherwise the child would be unable to establish a
successful relationship later in life.
This fact goes to justify the position that the learning processes of a
child early in life, lies squarely on the shoulders of the mother. This is why
in Edo State like in other rural communities, a child’s character whether
positive or negative is always attributed to the home training. We discovered
that members of the community are differentiated merely by their roles which
are ranked hierarchically. What this simply means is that acts are classified
either as superior or inferior. It is a common known fact that the community
delineates what a man can “DO” and what a woman can “DO” noting that rewards
are accrued to them respectively in terms of power, wealth and prestige. Like
any other community in the Nation, the primary responsibility of the woman is
centered on childcare and domestic work, while the men have the responsibility
for the provision of the family livelihood. Lately these responsibilities have
experienced slight alterations in that the prevailing division of labor between
the sexes has led to the men and women assuming unequal positions in terms of
power, wealth and prestige. In all, it is evident that the concept of gender as
a socially created phenomenon attributes differing social roles and identities
to men and women. Worth noting is the fact that Gender has become a factor in
structuring the types of opportunities and life chance individuals and groups
face, and strongly influences the roles they play within any given social
institution.
I would conclude my paper by examining the changes
women’s status has undergone in the light of the current socio-economic and
political development in both Local Government Areas. It is quite discouraging
and dissatisfying to state that there has been a sharp decrease in the number
of women in active politics. As a result of this, women are not given any
opportunity to play assertive roles in the process of local. Elected women
representatives are just insufficient; women are used as mouthpieces of their
male relatives and the empowerment of women has continued to remain at a very
low percentage with each passing election. We know that there is the 35%
Affirmative representation that has been put in place but it is not visible in
the rural communities. The need to start preparing women who are bound to
become future leaders of their rural communities is now. We need to begin to
implement programs that would foster women’s empowerment and gender equality.
It is sad to note that these women in the grassroots are not appreciated in all
the various local governments areas visited. Great strides need to be made
towards the promotion of gender equality. The social transformation is yet to
be noticed in all our rural communities. The voices of our women in the rural
communities need to be heard. All of us irrespective of our social strata must
aim at ensuring that the involvement of women in the decision making process
increases steadily. It is only after that, that we can pride ourselves in
saying that Yes, we a success story.
Come with me from today and let’s all WORK OUR WALK.
Thank you all for listening and God bless you.
No comments:
Post a Comment