GBV: Gov’s wife takes campaign to girls’ college, urges girls to defend themselves
Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, wife of the Kebbi State Governor, has urged female students of Girls’ Schools in the state to defend themselves against Gender Base Violence (GBV) in their respective homes and society at large.
She stated this while addressing female students of six Girls Secondary Schools, who converged at Dr Aminat College, Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, on Sunday.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the exercise is part of activities to mark “16 days of activism against GBV” for girls, organised by Women At Risk International Foundation (WARIF), in collaboration with Kebbi State Government.
The governor’s wife charged the girls to advance their education to higher institutions, assuring that with proper education, girls would be able to fill many vacancies available for women in the state civil service.The governo’s wife, who was represented by the former Executive Secretary, Schools Management Board, Hajiya Asmau Alkali, advised the females to break the silence about oppressors of sexual abuse, rape and harassment, stressing that government and female lawyers would be there for them to fight their course.
Responding to a series of questions from the female students on rape and abuse, the governor’s wife said; “I am so happy now that the girls are ready to defend themselves. You can defend yourselves because you have the opportunity to do so. If you are not in schools, you may not have this chance.”She assured that government is always ready to ensure that education sector was taken to greater heights of development.“So, I do hope that you will continue to read your books very well, respect your teachers and make sure you proceed to the next level.
“What I mean by next level, is that, we are expecting you to proceed with your education to higher institutions. We have a lot of vacancies where we need a lot of lawyers, so many nurses, so many doctors and so many teachers, especially female teachers.
“You can choose any field. you need a lot of you because women are not participating. It is disheartening that most of you might not proceed after secondary schools, some might not pass their exams, some, their families could not afford to sponsor them, few, their husbands will not allow you to go further.“So, I am calling on you to support yourselves, your country by advancing your education and get educated,” she advised.She appealed to the girls not to keep quite anymore on rape, sexual abuse and harassment, while commending the Kebbi State House of Assembly for passing the GBV and Child Right Act awaiting assent by the state governor.
The governor’s wife assured that she was collaborating with female lawyers and other relevant agencies on law backing prosecution of GBV, stressing that they have no problem to get any rapist convicted in the court of law.In his remarks, the WARIF Programme Manager, Mr Adeyemi Asaba, said: “Talking about sustainability and addressing the questions the girls asked, we have our staff here based in Kebbi State addressing issues relating to rape, harassment among others.
“Things that have to do with medical, we refer them to appropriate quarters. Psychological and sociological; we have been able to address some of these issues,” he said.Earlier, Mrs Kudirat Shuiab, Vice-Chairperson of Kebbi State Technical Working Committee on GBV, told the female students that no rapists would escape justice again ‘because the law has changed their conviction from 14 years imprisonment to life imprisonment.“A rape case can also be reported without details of the victims, except series number which shall be used to prosecute the case to the logical conclusion,” she noted. (NAN)
