Why Gender bills would not fail under the 10th NASS, by Senator Kingibe

***As women stage roadwalk against GBVH in Abuja

The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the national Assembly, Senator Ireti Kingibe has explained why the 10th National Assembly will revisit the Five gender bills that were rejected during the ammendment of 1999 Constitution in the 9th National Assembly.
She said their male counterparts are now convinced of the relevance of the bills. Hence, she is convinced that the bless will get their blessings when it is time to amend the constitution.

It would be recalled that the five gender bills failed to fly in the immediate past 9th National Assembly as they couldn’t secure the required majority votes.
It was discovered that the bills failed largely because male legislators could not be convinced of their relevance.
The senator who Spoke on Saturday at the awareness walk to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, said sith the support of the men she is confident the bills will sail through this time around

“Without any exaggeration, women are the backbone of this country. We are the backbone of any country. We are the backbone of the home. Can we survive with a broken backbone?
“Nigeria is a country that is lagging behind in all human development indices
“Therefore Gender Based Violence and Harrassment(GBVH) must stop, and how will it stop? It is going to stop when there is proper reporting and proper consequence and collective responsibility, male and female, as you can see from the number of the organizations represented here we have decided that women are going to unite to fight Gender Based Violence and Harrassment(GBVH)

She acknowledged that the bills suffered setbacks in the 9th Assembly, but in the 10th Assembly, she does not expect the bills to fail.
She said even the men understand that for Nigeria to fully develop, they can not leave behind 50% of its population.
“So with the cooperation of the men and all Nigerians, including NGOs, the media and everybody the bills will sail through. We must insist on it. You must insist on it that it is a goal that must be achieved in this 10th assembly, whatever it takes.

“The 10th assembly would work towards getting presidential assent for the bills
The minister of women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, in her speech,  said their is a mobile Court that will take on pepertrators of GBVH as she asked Nigerian men to protect the women, their wives and daughters
We will stand by you. We affirm our commitment at the UN to the fight against GBV. We are at the forefront.

Representative of the UN, Kuawu Kowsin, said the gathering was to sensitize the people on the importance of joining hands to end Gender Based Violence Against Women.
“GBV has been an issue that is not only in Nigeria but a number of countries, so the UN has joined the ministry of Women Affairs to send a message that we are together to Eliminate Violence Against Women
“We have already taken a lot of steps in Preventig GBV. We have been talking to the people in the various communities to sensitize people about the harmful consequences of GBVH.
“When they become aware they will stop to perpetrate this harmful practice but also there is a lot of work that is being done by the UN to assist and support the survivors of GBVH psychologically and to help them to seek justice.
On whether there is any protection for men against violence he said, “There is a new law about Violence Against the people in general, this is also part of it but you know Violence Against Women is the major issue, Violence Against men is also covered.”

Barrister Louis Auta of the Network of Women With Disabilities who spoke on behalf of women and girls with Disability said they are tired of the exclusion.

“We are tired of GBVH. We are tired of violence against women and the girls with Disability and we are here to say Bye-bye to GBVH.”
The event for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which started at the Eagle square as early as 7am on Saturday morning witnessed a large turn out of women from all works who engaged the awareness roadwalk to the Unity fountain square.
At the Unity Fountain, there was a cannival of sort as the women expressed their determination to ensure all violence against women are eliminated.