The second lady of Nigeria, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, has berated the longtime discrepancy displayed against women in Nigeria and across borders.
Naija News reports that the wife of the Vice President while addressing her peers in Abuja yesterday, warned against unfair treatment and less esteem for the female gender in every country, especially Nigeria.
Mrs Osinbajo said there is no and would never be a country that can develop without adequately empowering women.
In her speech on Friday during the 2022 edition of Focus Africa Leading Women Conference and Award, themed, “Women Leading and Emerging,” the VP’s wife said she is baffled whenever she hears some insensitive and unfair words spoken against her gender in the society.
Osinbajo insists that women should be treated fairly and allowed to display their full potential.
She said, “There is no way any country can develop without women. The country cannot develop without women. A family cannot succeed without the mother.
“I have heard a few careless comments saying ‘are we safe? Can a woman fly this plane? I’m ashamed to hear such insensitive and unfair words that these accomplished and brave women have to face in their workplaces. The medical bills for boys and girls have been the same. I have never heard of a school charging fewer fees for some girls than some boys, nor have I seen a bus or a taxi or an aeroplane charging a girl less.
“What is this culture than of esteeming the girls as less valuable and less capable than the boys.”
According to Osinbajo, women who hold their heads up high and are working in such places are a source of pride and joy to their gender.
They inspire those who come after them and are leading Nigerian women and should be applauded, the VP’s wife reiterated.
In her remarks, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen said the empowerment of women requires that they can develop their capacity to actualize and reach their full potential, Naija News reports.
Tallen said: “Women empowerment can be the provision of education, mentoring and training to learn a trade, provision of funding to start a trade to enable her to build independence to take charge of her life to the benefit of the community at large.”
Also speaking, the wife of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Chief Host of the event, Alayingi Sylva, said the programme would help every woman to re-imaging, rebuild and reset the pathways of change to unleash the power within them.
According to her, the programme will further help to promote entrepreneurship, inclusion, and gender diversity and break the bias women face to address stereotypes.
On her part, the wife of the Minister of Transportation, Judith Amaechi, called for more collaboration among partners to empower women and girls.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News