The year 2015 promises to be a glorious one for women and their kind in Nigeria if Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerges victorious in the presidential primary of the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as the forthcoming presidential election.
The former vice president is not only gender sensitive but believes that women in society, given the necessary opportunity and support can play critically strategic roles in national development and socio-economic transformation.
Atiku’s belief and confidence in the womenfolk in Nigeria is not borne out of the desire to win just election or to have an agenda after winning one, but is borne out of a deep- seated commitment to all round inclusive national development agenda.
A careful study of his policy document titled, “From Reform to Prosperity” shows that the former vice president has devoted much time to contemplating on how best to empower and positively affect the lives of women and youths in a way that will make these segment of the population, a veritable vanguard of economic and social transformation.
On page 75 of the document, Atiku Abubakar acknowledged that women constitute a large percentage of the population and that cultural practises and legislation have placed them at a disadvantage. The objective of the Atiku policy is to eventually mainstream women to the development process.
To achieve his dream for Women, Alhaji Atiku’s proposes as follows:
1. Creation of a gender sensitive society where both men and women will be treated equally.
2. Empowerment of women to make them self-reliant and improve their self-esteem.
3. Facilitate equal access to and control over production resources, and benefits as well as ownership of assets.
4. Ensure household food security and enabling environment for women entrepreneurs.
5. Remove all legislation and gradually change culturally-induced barriers that inhibit women advancement.
6. Encourage education of the girl child.
7. Strive to achieve the Millennium Development Goals as they affect women.
The strategies to achieve the goals include the provision of institutionalised technical and capacity building system for women entrepreneurial development; encouraging the mobility of women from the internal sector to the formal sector through easy access to business advisory services, tax concessions etc; and finally, to employ legislation to ensure that women are protected, encouraged and assisted to take part in economic activities that would hasten their emancipation.
Therefore, under an Atiku administration, the lot of women will be tremendously improved not on an ad hoc and celebratory basis as we have today, but through well- thought out institutional basis that is backed by law and aimed at production and economic revolution.
Mohammed Alhassan