…Demands change in roles oppressing women in nation building
The empowerment of the girl child is critical to development of the nation, Princess Chichi Ojei, the only female presidential candidate on the ticket of the
Allied People’s Movement (APM) for the 2023 general elections has said.
“It is, as a matter of urgency to empower the girl child and women at large for a better prosperous, safer, developed Nigeria”, Ojei declared.
The presidential candidate buttressed her call by referencing a popular African adage,
“ If you train a man you train an individual, but if you train a woman you train a nation.”
Furthermore, she said, “Nigerian women and girls make a clarion call that we will no longer condone the oppression of the patriarchal mindset of the Nigerian society, while silenced in all areas of our lives, except the bedroom and kitchen for too long”.
She made the remarks in a statement in commemuration of this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, with the
theme: “Our time is now— our rights, our future”.
She said, “Today we demand for our God given rights to compliment each other, not just as partners in progress but the chance for an equal playing position in nation building.
“It is time Nigeria recognizes the significant developmental role women play in our various nations as the old negative narrative towards our girls and women must be put to an end, as we cannot make the same mistakes and expect different results.
“In Nigeria presently, we are not only a predominately male society, but our harmful traditional practices have hindered development and the emancipation of the rights of the girl child.
“My encouragement to the Nigerian girl child is, I will not only radically give back the control and power deserving of the citizens of Nigeria, but I shall especially give the girl child the rights, positions, opportunities needed to compete nationally and globally as women in alll frontiers of their present and future aspirations, as my mandate.
“I recognize who I am, where I came from and how far I need to go – being a female and today, I serve as a beacon of hope to my generation and upcoming future generations of the girl child. The future is female, the call for a new era has begun”.
She lauded the United Nations for the recognition and awareness given to girl rights, on every October 11 being set aside globally, as International Day of the Girl Child.
