THE Nigeria Labour Congress (women committee) has risen against gender-based crime at a one-day seminar/sensitization workshop in commemoration of the Nigeria 55th Independence celebration held recently at the Edo State Civil Service Club, Benin City.
Speaking at the seminar, Mrs. Cordelia Oluchi Ebiringa the Edo/Delta State zonal commander of National Agency For The Prohibition Of Trafficking in Persons and related matters (NAPTIP) challenged the women to always fight for their right and rise up against women violence so as to bring the change the Nigerian women have clamoured for.
She condemned the stories making the rounds that the Binis have a large percentage of girls in prostitution in the western country as false. She cited the great heroines in the great Bini kingdom as role models to the girl-child in Bini. “Heroines, such as Queen Idia Esigie and the recent past Queen Esther Erediauwa”. The culture of the Bini women is very thick because of the support of these great heroines. The Queens are the mothers of the Binis who had already set a pace for the strength of womanhood. A woman is not expected to be a weakling as tagged by the men folk.
“Women are the generation changer. Only if the women have the courage to speak out and make a difference as Nigeria clocks 55. Of course, Nigeria is 55 but where are the women in this change movement”.
“Continuing, she said: a woman should stop accepting herself as a weaker vessel or inferior to the man. This allows politicians to sub change her in the game of politics. The woman is not allowed to rub mind with the male counterpart all because, a woman is forbidden to attend the late night meetings with the men and yet, it is the woman who takes care of the man when he returns home late at night after the so called political meetings. In all of this, the men take a larger proportion of political appointments when the women are left with just 35 percent affirmative action.
“If the girl-child is not given a future, a nation is not born. A young girl passes through a lot of harassments when seeking for jobs. This is mostly rampant in the banking sector where the girl has to meet target returns in marketing. Why the male counterpart not in marketing and have no targets as well?
“The women are oppressed and intimidated especially to the young girls at the universities who are left at the mercies of their male lecturers and yet the female lecturers see this and say nothing about this. Some women are enemies of women too.
It in this part of the world that a woman is not allowed owning landed properties just because she is a woman. She is subjected to the condition of collateral which we all known is very difficult for the women to get comparing to the male folks who had lots of landed properties inherited from their late father just because he is a man. So where is the place of women in this culture of ours? This is a collective fight by women to make this change and that time is now! Women need to fight against male child preferences, childhood marriage, genital mutilation and rape.
“Because of stigmatization, women are subjected to keep silent against rape because of show of evidences. The woman fears she is worthless culturally at that rape incident and not man would want to have anything to do with her or get close to her family. Fathers are not even trusted in the midst of his daughters because a lot of rape cases have been reportedly caused by fathers of the victims.
“A girl-child is subjected to all manners of dehumanization such as house help, forced labour, prostitution e.t.c to the Arab countries.
“A girl-child is made to part-take in the baby factory business all because of poverty. A male child can be sold as high as seven hundred and fifty thousand naira to one million. The question now is: who collects this money? The girls who produce the babies are settled with a meager sum of ten thousand naira.
“Where is the place of a mother in all of these? Mothers have a lot of role to play too in bringing up their girl-child. Mothers should stop pressuring their daughters and compelling them to follow the path of their peers. Some mothers connect their girl-child to these human traffickers in prostitutions. Makes them go through all manners of fetish rituals. The carrier women would not want to take an annual leave to take care of her home. Early in the morning she is off and leaves her home at the mercies of the house help.
“Finally, women! Make time for your girl-child and make her your friend. Listen to your daughter and find out who her friends are. The era of where a woman was only seen to attend to the man’s sexual need and domestic chores is over”, she said.
The women who were dressed in the Nigeria colours of Green, White and Green, all looked elegant.
Representatives from various Labour and Trade unions attended the epoc making event. Edo State NLC chairman Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun and his team also graced the occasion and delivered a goodwill message to the women in appreciation of their initiative in organising such an event and promised to always give them full support when the need arises.
Meanwhile, Comrade Caroline Aikoriogie Chairperson, NLC women committee appreciated the women from various unions for participated at the seminar.