The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Leadership and Citizenship, Rinsola Abiola, has called for the enactment of laws to uphold the rights of women in order to foster their empowerment.
This is just as she noted that the important components of women’s empowerment include rights and legal protection, and laws that deliver on their equity and protection, which will ultimately boost their overall development and performance.
She also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu is actively working to strengthen programmes and policies that will promote the growth and development of women and youths in Nigeria.
The SSA said this while speaking at the Young Women’s Leadership Conference held at NAF Centre, Abuja.
“I believe that there are very important components of women’s empowerment, namely: rights and legal protection, and this is about enacting laws that deliver on equity and protection for our girls and women; economic empowerment – and this can be linked to key indicators like education and labour force participation; and political representation, as opposed to just participation.
“Today, we will talk about laws and the effort to safeguard your rights, we will talk about youth initiatives, we will talk about political representation and how we can work together to close the gender gap across all facets of our national life. Please rest assured that we are not just here to talk, but that the recommendations we make and the resolutions we reach at this conference will form the basis of further engagements and detailed advisory to H.E. the President, through the Ministry for Youth Development,” she stated.
Abiola also disclosed that President Tinubu, among other things, has been actively providing support for women to achieve their dreams through programmes, policies and inclusion in government.
Therefore, she continued, it is imperative that the youths and women are trained and empowered to take full advantage of the opportunities the government is providing for them. One of the ways of doing so is the Conference for Women on Leadership.
“There are also many initiatives in store that both genders can benefit from and I pledge my commitment to running an inclusive office that is dedicated to promoting civic education and developing the leadership potentials of our young people, male and female.”
While commending the President for his remarkable appointment in his government, the presidential aide stated, “We have a president who is committed to gender mainstreaming, as evidenced by the appointment of an unprecedented number of women into key positions. I am one of them, as I serve as his Senior Special Assistant on Citizenship and Leadership, and I make bold to say that a significant proportion of my colleagues are female. Going into the Federal Executive Council, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu also made history by appointing a capable young woman in the person of Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim as Minister for Youth Development; that is in addition to other capable women manning key ministries.
“An administration of many firsts, the President has also appointed women to head agencies like NIPOST, FAAN and NEMA for the first time ever. I have the confidence to convene this conference because I know that my principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a true He-for-She champion in every sense of the word. And he has not only appointed women for the sake of tokenism; no, he has placed highly qualified and competent women in important positions.
“Someday, God willing, we will have ministers, Directors-General, Executive Secretaries, presidential aides, lawmakers, presiding officers, deputy governors, governors, vice presidents, presidents, captains of industry and highly successful business owners and homemakers from among the young women seated here. All your dreams are valid – whatever they are – and our dream is to build a nation that works for us all, men and women, side by side, living fulfilling lives and contributing to nation-building as partners in progress.”
She expressed gratitude to the Minister for Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Hon. Ayodele Olawande, the Honorable Minister of State for Youth Development, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Dr. Dunoma Ahmed, and leadership of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), for their support.
The event was organised in partnership with UN Women, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), The T.O.S. Foundation, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and Sapphittal.
Domiciled in the Ministry of Youth Development, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Citizenship and Leadership is a constituent unit of the Federal Government of Nigeria charged with the mandate of promoting civic education and leadership development among citizens, particularly young people.
The conference – the first of its kind – was organised in commemoration of Women’s Month and International Women’s Day; and focused on empowering and spotlighting able, capable, dedicated and amazing young Nigerian women.
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