The Executive Director, Women of Inestimable Values (WIV), Blessing Okojie, has said there was need to consider women for key positions to enable them contribute their quota to the economic growth of the country.
Okojie said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) over the weekend in Lagos in commemoration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration observed annually on March 8.
IWD is a global day celebrating social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and have its 2020 theme as ‘Am Generation Equality, Realising Women’s right’.
“The role of women in the society is very significant, important and should be taken into consideration for the benefit of our economic growth and development of our nation.
“So, more key positions and opportunities should be created for women to occupy their places in the various sectors in order to contribute their quota and make the difference,” she said.
The WIV Executive Director said that most developed nations were recording tremendous development because women occupied strategic positions in the economy.
“Most developed countries know that women are gifted, intelligent, and influential and with unique features, they bring out the best in anything committed into their hands in the nation’s affairs.
“However, I have discovered that in Africa, women are only seen as home makers, and not nation builders, unfortunately this is not correct, because women are needed in nation building,” Okojie said.
She said that it was essential for women to lay good foundations and morals from the family institution as anything contrary would result to a bad family system.
According to her, such negative foundation will experience insecurity, deviant behaviour and low economic growth, being the reason for the recent increase in rape and domestic violence in our society.
She, therefore, urged women to give priority to the family institutions as part of their contribution to make the nation a liveable society for all.
“The baby was raped by her mother’s boyfriend both anally and virginal in Ondo State, so you can imagine that and so many cases of domestic violence of women killing men, and men killing women.
“The government should provide stiffer punishment for perpetrators of all forms of violence and child abuse, and also create more awareness programmes on the consequences of abusing a child,” she said.
She, therefore, advised parents to be more careful of where and who they leave their children with, adding that both father and mother have their roles to play in protecting their children.
