‘Gender issues are societal problems, not women’s issues’

Can you briefly tell us about yourself?I am a professional teacher by training, development worker by calling and a gender and peace building expert by practice.I am also a chief lecturer at the Kaduna Polytechnic and got involved in community service about 15 years ago. I served as a volunteer with two Non Governmental Organizations […]

Can you briefly tell us about yourself?
I am a professional teacher by training, development worker by calling and a gender and peace building expert by practice.
I am also a chief lecturer at the Kaduna Polytechnic and got involved in community service about 15 years ago.
I served as a volunteer with two Non Governmental Organizations named Women in Mobilization Activities (WIMA) and Nigeria Association of University Women (NAUW) before co-founding Gender Awareness Trust (GAT) with Dorothy Habu Gankon, in the year 2000.
Currently, I am the organization’s executive director with its head office in Barnawa, Kaduna South.
I have carried out a good number of consultancies both within and outside Nigeria, that work around the protection and promotion of gender equality and peace which has taken me to over 20 countries across the globe. I serve as chair, vice chair and member of boards of a number of civil society oragnisation networks and NGOs and have received awards of recognition and excellence, Human Rights Defender and Peace Advocate.

There is a perception amongst people that anything gender has to do with women, what is your take on this?
It is unfortunate that the word ‘gender’ has been misconceived and misconstrued to mean ‘women issue’ over time especially in this part of the world. Gender is not synonymous to women. While an individual’s ‘sex’ defines him or her as male or female which refers exclusively to the biological differences between men and women, gender  refers to socially constructed roles, expectations  ascribed to men as distinct from women although  on the basis of their sex.
It refers to the social differences and relations between men and women which are learned, widely varies among cultures and societies and changes over time. The term gender is used to analyze roles, responsibilities, opportunities, and needs of men and women in all areas of public and private life.
Gender is characterized by unequal power relations between women and men whose manifestation varies from place to place and in degree and form and reflects mostly in discrimination against women in all spheres of life including peace and security issues. This contributes to a large extent, to the exclusion of women to participate in decision making at all levels be it in public or private sphere.
The call for gender equality by gender experts does not advocate that women and men become the same or equal in the ordinary sense of the word, No! Gender recognizes the biological differences between men and women but imagines that such differences do not mean inferiority or superiority. Gender equality aims at ensuring that the enjoyment of rights, responsibilities and opportunities do not depend on whether one is born male or female but on the fact that one is human and hence no male or female should be excluded from or discriminated against purely on the basis of one’s sex.
Some 15 to 20 years ago many men and women found the word ‘gender’ somehow offensive but thanks to the tenacity of gender activists many have come to appreciate what it is and how it is a developmental issue to a point that we have many male gender activists working side by side to show that gender issues are societal problems and not women’s issues.

How do you think the participation of women from the northern part of the country in politics and decision making can be enhanced?
The participation of women in politics in northern Nigeria ought to go beyond singing, dancing and voting to actively contesting and winning elective positions. This is a herculean task in the northern part of Nigeria where the position and roles of women in society tend to be confined to the private sphere.
In addition to social, cultural and religious hurdles that women as against men have to cross to actively be in mainstream party and national politics there are other obstacles that include; poverty, inadequate knowledge and information on politics, election violence and general lack of exposure. But that a few have managed to cross those obstacles mean that it is possible for women in the north to become more involved in politics that will position them in decision making positions.
The National Gender Policy 2006 of government recognizes the wide gap between men and women and offers a solution of a deliberate temporary strategy popularly called the “Affirmative Action”. This calls for the setting aside of at least 35% elective and appointive positions exclusively for women. Women and gender activists are yet advocating for the inclusion of this provision in Nigeria’s constitution as a very concrete step to enhancing the participation of women in politics (beyond the current 7%) and decision making positions.
 Another powerful strategy in enhancing the participation of women in politics is to adopt the at least 35% Affirmative Action for women at party levels. The practice of having only one “woman leader’ in an EXCO of a party since  1999 is retrogressive because that is where all important decisions are taken. Women’s voices are absent and it would amount to deceit to expect the men to put their issues aside and promote women’s issues. Gender demands that issues of men and women, boys and girls be taken on board with equal importance.
Women’s empowerment if built and support made available would go a long way to paving the way for their participation in a society where money plays such a key role in politics and parties would only field candidates that are the highest bidders and have what it takes to win an election.
Finally, the twinning approach would certainly increase women political representation. What this means is that as a deliberate policy where for instance a Local Government Chairman is a man, a woman should be his Vice, similarly where a Governor is male, his deputy should be a female. A number of countries within and outside Africa have adopted and practiced some of these approaches and recorded success stories.
As a stakeholder working towards the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in the country, what is it about and how will it benefit women and children?
In the year 2000, the United Nations Security Council formally acknowledged through the creation of Resolution 1325 the changing nature of warfare, in which civilians are increasingly targeted, and women continue to be excluded from participation in peace processes.
UNSCR 1325 addresses Women, Peace and Security and calls for women’s full participation in all aspects of peace-building, from negotiations to post-war reconstruction.
As Executive Director, Gender Awareness Trust (GAT) whose focus is on promoting and protecting gender and peace, I was one of the four consultants that developed the Nigeria’s national action plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and other related Resolutions.
Some of the ways which women and children are going to benefit from the resolution include; women and girl victims of gender-based violence especially in conflict situations would be adequately compensated while perpetrators face sanctions to do away with impunity.
There will also be increased women’s participation in conflict management processes, reduced prevalence of violence against women in post conflict situations and sanctions on perpetrators would break the culture of silence and impunity to mention a few.

What mechanism do you think needs to be put in place for women to be included in peace and conflict resolution initiatives in the country, even at the grassroots level?
There should be passage of the pending Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill 2006 into law would provide community members particularly community based organisations a legal backing to take up for prosecution cases of Violence against women and girls .
Unfortunately, our laws now are grossly inadequate in dealing with some of these violations because Nigeria does not see them as criminal offences. Little wonder a 47 year old man that rapes a 12 year old girl is jailed for only three months with an option fine of N20,000.
The inclusion of human/women & gender rights in school curriculum right from primary schools would help younger members of society not to grow up with adults mind set on what women are, can and cannot do and used for.
Religious leaders should be encouraged to preach public sermons around violence generally and violence against women and girls specifically.
Trauma healing should be institutionalized for both victims and perpetrators of violence against women and girls.
Established community monitoring and reporting committees on violence against women committees should be made up of a cross section of stakeholders within the community including religious & traditional leaders, men & women leaders, youth groups leaders, teachers, security agents, nurses and young women youths and even children whose capacity would be built to recognize, flee and report all forms of violence against women.
Security agents and health workers should be trained on how to humanly and professionally handle cases of violence against women.