Nigeria Has Little Regard for Women-Fati Ibrahim
A renowned female activist and Fashion icon, Fati Ibrahim has frowned at the way and manner Nigerian society treats issues concerning women in the country.
Ibrahim, who spoke to True Vision on the heels of the rejection of gender friendly bills by the National Assembly stated that she “was not too surprised because we are in a country that has little regard for women”.
Her words : “I have no apology to say it but the men have always wanted to relegate women to the background, to shut women up and the men always feel threatened by women because women are making waves all over the world.
“I will say some of the men want the woman to be under them forever so that they can control her and ensure that whatever the woman needs must come through them.
“So I was not essentially surprised that the Gender Bills did not sail through. We have been in this struggle for a very long time, women want to emancipate themselves from the hands of men”.
Fati, a graduate of Industrial Design from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), blamed the numerous problems in the society to the refusal of authorities to bring women into the mainstream of policy making and proper empowerment of women.
“Look at all the societal problems today; Boko Haram, Kidnappers, Bandits, Armed robbers and all that. If mothers and women are being empowered, being brought at the decision table and being voted for and are part of policy makers, I wager to say that we will not be having all these children on the streets that are becoming problems to the society today”, the fashion icon stated.
She therefore called on Nigerian Women to strategize and see how they can mobilize and push for more inclusion in decision making processes for the overall good of the larger society.
According to her, “I think that for us women, it is time to restrategize. We cannot be going on the streets all the time. Sometimes, men may understand if we go to the streets to protest but I think that we have to reorganize ourselves.
“We need to come back and organize ourselves and strategize on how we can achieve our aims and purposes. Let us find a way for us to sit down and restrategize, articulate our demands and use our brains.
” I will urge the women to put aside the little gosips and jealousy that tend to put a wedge between our women. Women should stop being easily swayed lured with money by the menfolk to vote for them when we have more credible women to vote for.
“Women should rise and shutdown the country and if need be, women should shut down the kitchen and even shut down the other room. It is very clear that any society that does not accord the necessary attention and respect for women would be in trouble”.
She stated emphatically that “we as women do not want Nigeria to have that problem, stressing that women are not competing with men but only trying to complement each other”.
Ibrahim, who is the promoter of African Fashion Hall of Fame, warned that it is in the interest of the larger society that women in Nigeria were empowered in order to contribute more meaningfully to the development of the country.
She noted that countries that paid attention to women issues seem to be on a higher trajectory of development, citing Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania as clear examples.
According to her, “despite the genocide that happened in Rwanda, that country is developing so fast. It is simply because Rwanda is carrying their women along”.
Ibrahim therefore called on the Nigerian Women not to shy away from politics as the nations gears towards the 2023 general elections. She enjoined the women to get their PVCs ready and use it to make the changes that would transform the country for the better.