Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
Mrs. Funmi Falana, wife of Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana has declared that it would be disastrous for Ekiti women to take the back seat as the state prepares for another governorship election in 2018.
Mrs. Falana said Nigerian women must take every opportunity of electioneering process to prove a point that they are important and competent like their male counterparts, to establish gender equality in the country’s governance and reverse the trend of male chauvinism that is taking root in Nigeria.
Lamenting the non-release of the over 200 chibok girls seized by Boko Haram insurgents, Falana advised President Muhammadu Buhari to expedite action and ensure that all the girls are released from captivity, adding that the failure of government to achieve this will dent the image of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government.
She said this in Iyin Ekiti yesterday while donating materials to the Erelu Angela Adebayo Children’s Home to mark the annual gift presentation to the orphanage.
Falana, who described women as the pivot of any nation said: “Women will not take the back seat in Ekiti governorship poll. We are embarking on advocacy programmes through my organisation ‘Women Empowerment and Legal Aids’ to help our women realise their potentials and rights.
“Time has come for women to present themselves for both elective positions and appointments to prove that they are as competent and important as their male counterparts.
“Some used to say that the African culture has not been fair to women.
“I want to believe this is not so, because our culture respects our roles and that is why we had the Iyalodes and the Iyalojas in the old days. So, what women are suffering today are human creations and we have to fight back to reclaim our lost glories,” she stated.
Falana told President Buhari to live up to his promise to free all the Chibok girls, expressing regret that the girls were still being held hostage after two years.
“We thank God that some of them have been released. We are pleading with government not to stop at the level of retrieving them alone, they should give all the girls psychological rehabilitation first.
They must ensure that those that are supposed to go back to schools are helped to realise that.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that these girls need rehabilitation and the support of every Nigerian to recover from this trauma. The government must not abandon them, they should give them scholarships for them to realise their dreams and become a pride to this nation,” she advised.
