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From Okwe Obi and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Aisha Mohammed, the wife of the governor of Bauchi State, has urged traditional, religious, and community figures to constantly preach the gospel of peace to their adherents in an effort to reduce national insecurity.
Muhammad also urged Nigerian leaders to prioritize peace so that people can enjoy the benefits of democracy.
She further urged parents to keep an eye on their children’s activities to prevent them from becoming friends with undesirable people who will encourage them to commit crimes.
The First Lady spoke at the Women for Peace, Culture and Arts Exhibition & the Official Launch of the GSAI Baseline Report, at the weekend in Abuja.
According to her, “The fight against banditry, kidnapping and terrorism should be a collective responsibility Although government has the higher responsibility, parents and other well meaning citizens have a great role to ply in that direction. Parents are expected to shoulder their responsibility of assuring proper up bringing of their children through provision of sound education to guarantee a brighter future. Political will is also required from the politicians as policy makers. They should come up with it’s a concrete idea that will improve as well as to ease difficulty being experienced in fighting for education and other means of livelihood. These accordingly the specialists will greatly assist in reducing social vices and give citizens sense of belonging.
“I also call on leaders to give peace priority it deserves for people to be able to enjoy their dividends of democracy. We must also, as a community, respect our values and traditions to enable us attain greatness.”
Further speaking, Muhammad decried the widespread instability that has afflicted the country, saying that the
“negative development has continued to create havocs to the lives of people, especially women who are most vulnerable.”
“It’s quite unfortunate that most of the part of the country over the years, are facing security challenges including terrorism, banditry, pipeline vandalism among other violence and crimes. The negative development has continued to create havocs to the lives of people, especially women who are most vulnerable. International day of remembrance and attributes of the victims of terrorism is quite imperative as it aims at promoting protecting the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedom.
“I will at this juncture, draw the attention of all the relevant stake holders to give more attention to root causes of such vices with a view to finding lasting solutions to the insecurity bedeviling most of our communities.
The First Lady listed some of the factors contributing to escalations of crimes such as terrorism, rape, baditory and violence to include;. lack of education among youths, communication gap between the government and the governed, and injustice among ethnic and religious followers in the country.
She also mentioned lack of financial contribution to the victims and emotional support, delay of justice and lack of awareness as part of the factors are the major contributors to insecurity.
“It is therefore, imperative for the stakeholders to strip hard towards educating our people for them to be informed on issues that are positive or negative to their social well-being.
“In my state, we are doing everything possible to create enabling environment for all and Sunday in an effort to reduce dependency and unemployment that is why we have come up with the various programs that will carry everyone along irrespective of religion, ethic and political differences.” She disclosed.
In her remarks, the Executive Director Gender Strategy Advancement International, Adaora Onyechere said the remembrance of victims of terrorists wasn’t only the narrative, but that the core of the conversation was really how to end terrorism in Nigeria.
She added that women needed to be involved in the battle against insurgency and terrorism since they are the primary victims of the menace, which have had a devastating impact on African communities in recent years.
“In Nigeria, women and girls make up at least 79% of approximately 2.5 million people or more displaced people across the country. Over more than 1000 women and girls have been kidnapped from schools, villages, with the Abuja-Kaduna train incident adding to the numbers.
“Unfortunately, while the focus on victimised girls have helped to garner international support, the effort has continued to overlook the role that women and girls play in the insurgency’s operations and ideologies in Nigeria
“Despite international condemnation of terrorism, victims often struggle to have their voices heard, their needs supported and their rights upheld. Victims often feel forgotten and neglected once the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack fades, which means profound consequences for them.
“The increased use of rape, other forms of sexual violence and abduction from schools as tactics of systematic terror attacks on civilian populations is a demonstration that terrorism and extremism target and affect women, men, girls and boys in different ways,
“Women and girls are not only victims of terrorist and extremist acts. They too play diverse roles in support of or as part of terrorist and extremist groups, just as they also contribute to actions and strategies to counter and prevent terrorism and violent extremism in their communities, countries and across the world.
“Women want to be consulted and involved in the analysis of the root causes of violent extremism and terrorism, and they want to be represented in mechanisms and structures to counter terrorism-including in national security agencies.
“The Nigerian government has made no discernible efforts to integrate women in counter insurgency operations forgetting the fact that women are reputed enablers of insurgents’ activities and therefore should constitute a strong target in the deradicalisation, disarmament and reintegration processes considering their huge but different power base spanning the socio, economic, cultural and economic bases.
The ED noted that although the country has developed a National Action Plan to fulfill the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, it was not reflected in the ongoing armed conflict between the Nigerian state and Boko Haram.
“For example, while women and children are most affected by the insurgency, there are few women involved in COIN operations, with government forces estimated to be 98 percent male
“We need to enable victims to fully recover, rehabilitate and reintegrate into society. Most victims can only recover and cope with their trauma through long-term multi-dimensional support, including physical, psychological, social and financial.” She said.
