The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Talen, says empowering the Girl-Child through Education is paramount to sustainable nation-building, adding that when she is trained, a nation is trained.
Talen stated this at the 2019 Edition of the Women in Leadership Summit, which held on Thursday in Abuja.
Speaking on behalf of the minister, her Special Assistant (SA), Technical, Mrs Jumai Idonije, said that women’s role as pace setters and change agents could not be over-emphasised.
According to her, the continuous replication of life and promotion of second chance to education for women is one of the key strategies she was adopting to ensure the sustainability of nation-building.
The annual event, themed; “Strength of a Woman’’, is geared towards reaffirming the contribution of women to the society and also celebrating women who have made significant contributions to nation-building.
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner of Police, Department of Operations, Dr Aishatu Abubakar-Baju, urged women to prepare the girl-child for not just marriage, but to harness her potentials in nation-building and development.
“Instead of saving money for her wedding, spend it on her education, instead of preparing her for her marriage, prepare her for herself,’’ Abubakar-Baju said.
She stressed that women should support each other to build a strong system that would bring about their relevance in all spheres of life.
A former Commissioner for Education in Kwara State, Mrs Bilikisu Oniyangi, during an interactive session on the strength of a woman, encouraged women to take advantage of family values adding that without women, there is no nation.
“The strength of a woman should not end in the kitchen or the home front, but on her relevance in the society and her ability to utilise her strengths in order to promote nation-building,’’ Oniyangi said.
She stressed that society could no longer condone issues of rape and other vices against women.
“The National Assembly should pass a bill to protect the rights of a child, not just the girl-child because sodomy is also becoming rampant.
“As an Activist, I will suggest a very slow punishment for rapists, they should be held in the cells with hard labour, and the government should initiate a workable solution to ending such vices,’’ she said.
The highpoint of the event was the launching of the Amazon Plus Magazine, by the wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu.