From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
 In commemoration of the 2023 InternationalWomen’s Day, Philip Umeadi  has said that all hands must be on deck to dismantle barriers hindering the actualization of gender equity which is achievable.
Umeadi, stated this at a discussion panel organized by the  Rotary Club of Abuja Municipal  yesterday  with the theme: “Dismantling The Barriers To Achieve Gender Equity”,
 He stressed that the reason why the attainment of gender equity has been slow is that there have been so much arguments on equality rather than equity, and as such, dismantling some of these barriers have not been very effective.
“Some of the barriers towards attainment of gender equity are in forms of cultural, legal and stereotypes barriers. Others are pro-male vibes, motherhood penalty, think-leader-think-male vibes, benevolent bias and lack of confidence.
 “This operates under the illusion that it is the men’s world. That everything else that comes after men will not work because the men are in charge. Adding that it is a barrier and a mindset that is inappropriate.”
 “Motherhood Penalty vibes consider that as mothers, the feminine gender must not be subjected to certain situations that will jeopardise the innocence of their children or be threat to the unborn. Excluding women from what they call motherhood issues by reason of the fact that they are mothers and will not be able to do some certain things. E.g, that a nursing mother cannot be in detention because it means that the child will also be in detention with the mother. Adding that we have seen where that happened and because of that, the state is unwilling to release the woman.
He further added that women are in some cases problems of themselves due to lack of confidence.
 Joy Okoro on her part added that religious barrier is another factor hindering gender equity. She added that if women are given chance to do a lot of things, the World will change for good.
Egboga  Osinachi said inadequate legislation is  one the major barriers to gender equity and  therefore called for more legislation that will empower the women.
 Oliko  explained that the fight for equality starts from birth, adding that equipping the girl child from birth and equal rights with her brothers is one sure way of dismantling the barriers to achieve gender equity.
The President of Rotary Club Abuja Municipal, Rotn Emeka Iloegbunam said though  the barriers had been in existence for decades but assured the women that they are doing their best to change the narrative .
The club  also inducted Philip Umeadi into her fold as a Rotarian and gave awards to the three panelists for excellence.
The highlights of the occasion was the donation of wheel-chair, school bag, exercise books, calculator and sanitary pads to person-in-need Ruth Odeh,who appreciated the club and prayed that the good Lord would bless them.