Issues
Pressing For Women Empowerment
March 8th every year has been set aside globally to commemorate the International Day of Women. It is a day to take stock and strategise for the improvement and celebration of the achievements of women. The achievements are categorised into economic, cultural, political, social and individual.
The theme this year is “Press for Progress”. How did the world come about this day? In 1908, 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York in the United States of America (USA) demanding for shorter working hours, right to vote and better pay package. But the idea to make it an international day was mooted by a woman, Clara Zetkin, in 1910 at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The day was first celebrated in 1911. But the battle to terminate discrimination against women did not end there. In 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and instituted on the 3rd of September, 1981.
The women continued with their fight for total emancipation and gender equality till September 3rd, 1995, when the fourth Conference on Women in Beijing held. This marked a significant turning point for the women’s struggle. At the Conference, participating countries vowed to remove all obstacles to gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The Beijing Platform for Action at the Conference covered 12 critical areas of concern for women. These are: education and training, women and poverty, women and health, violence against women, women in power and decision-making, women and health, women and the economy, human rights of women, women and armed conflict, institutional mechanism for the advancement of women, women and the environment, women and the media and finally, and the most vulnerable – the girl-child.
In the 1995 golden jubilee celebrations of the founding of the United Nations, the CEDAW document/treaty was ratified by 187 member-states out of 194 nations. Surprisingly, the USA is among the countries that are yet to ratify it. That, notwithstanding, the women have continued to press on.
In Nigeria, late Dr. (Mrs) Maryam Babangida, a pioneer champion of women emancipation in Nigeria, a former First Lady and founder of Better Life for Rural Women, was viable in the fight to emancipate women. She built a workable platform for the articulation, formulation and implementation of development projects for rural women. Her Better Life programme has had great impact on women till date. It was in her time that women commissions metamorphosed into women ministry.
Then came Maryam Abacha, widow of Nigeria’s late head of state, General Sani Abacha. It was in her tenure as First Lady the Beijing Conference held and a lot of women from Nigeria attended the Conference. Before both women got involved in the gender equality struggle in Nigeria, little or no effort was made in that direction. What was on ground was a mere fanfair that trivialised women empowerment.
This year’s theme is expedient for women to key into. It is important for them as individuals, groups, associations, organisations and communities. Women have to tap into it and hit the ground running. It was for this reason Rivers State was not left out in the celebration of the Women’s Day in the country.
Here in the state, the occasion held at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Sports Complex, Port Harcourt. In a keynote address, wife of the Rivers State governor, Her Excellency, Justice Suzette Eberechi Nyesom Wike, called for the empowerment of women at all levels. But which women group would hold Her Excellency accountable to her words and ensure that she fulfils what she said? She also called on parents to give equal opportunities to male and female children to enable the girl-child attain her highest level of development. How many mothers will heed this advice and press for the progress of their female children?
The governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Barrister Nyesom Wike, was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Kenneth Kobani. The governor commended Rivers’ women for their strong support to his government and urged them to sustain the tempo. Fine. Strong commendation indeed. Is that all the women will get? What about the empowerment, the appointments and the positions in political parties? Are women not qualified to be in those positions?
The question now is: who is pressing on for the progress of women on the political front? How do we sustain the tempo achieved so far? What about working mothers? How are we working for their progress? This is because the working mother makes a lot of sacrifice both at home and at the workplace. Women are discriminated against in all fronts. It is very obvious that some employers of labour do not employ married women of child-bearing age. This discriminatory attitude also affects women in the legal profession.
Women also suffer segregation in the entrepreneurial world. Recently, the Entrepreneurial Platform Initiative celebrated women at a workshop at Sparklyn Hotels in Port Harcourt. It was revealed at the event that gender inequality is prevalent in the Niger Delta region. This affects women entrepreneurs greatly. It was also mentioned that women are denied access to funds to promote their businesses. However, the women were urged to think like entrepreneurs and organise themselves and be a part of government decision-making processes.
Multinational corporations cannot be left out of the ill treatment of women through their policies. Although few of them have encouraged women, they need to expand and support the enactment of women friendly policies. Broad-based partnership of various sectors will expand and strengthen creativity and initiative for women in the Niger Delta region in particular and Nigeria in general.
While women battle against setbacks society has erected for them, there is need for them to support themselves. Women should celebrate their fellow women and not work against one another. It is sad to see some of the discriminatory practices against women such as female circumcision, widowhood practices etc. being carried out by fellow women. Those belonging to the female gender need to change and be focused, remain undaunted and encourage themselves to form cooperatives.
Unfortunately, since CEDAW was adopted where governments agreed to make and implement policies that would enable women have access to land ownership, credit, inheritance and natural resources, nothing has been done till date. Women still do not inherit land in Nigeria. Their participation in politics and their access to political positions in relation to their male counterparts are still very low. Therefore, there is need for deliberate policies in specific areas like land rights, inheritance, property rights and asset holdings.
This year’s theme introduces a critical dimension to the global emancipation of women in that it emphasises the complete eradication of poverty among the women folk. The empowerment of women shouldn’t be left to them alone, they have to be assisted by their male counterparts. If favourable policies are made particularly in education and human resources, inter alia, Nigerian women and their global counterparts will get closer to their total emancipation.
Juliet Njiowhor
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
