Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), says gender-based violence persists due to lack of implementation of critical policies and resolutions reached at conferences and town hall meetings.
He stated this on Tuesday in Abuja during a high-level gender-based prevention summit with traditional and faith leaders in Nigeria and West Africa organised by the United Nations.
He said, “Gender-based violence has been a perennial issue that has lasted for centuries and cannot just go immediately. However, the major challenge in tackling it is that we don’t implement issues when we discuss them.
“Therefore, it is important for traditional and religious leaders to explore ways of implementation rather than just discuss and go home.”
Speaking further, he noted that Islam has high respect for women and people must not think that the violence against women is encouraged by Islam
“Let’s see how we can implement it so we won’t come back discussing the same thing like a broken record. We are ready to give our best to the country based on justice, fair play and equity,” he added.
Sultan called for dialogue as one of the best practical solutions to the problem of GBV both in Nigeria and West Africa, adding that over the past 17 years on the throne, he and his colleagues have been exploring dialogue as part of ways to prevent GBV.
Also speaking, the country representative for United Nations Women in Nigeria, Beatrice Eyong, said, “736 million women in the world have experienced gender-based violence at a point in time in their lives just as women and girls in Africa are still disadvantaged.”
She said West Africa has the highest rate for child marriage and gender-based violence, adding that 40 per cent of women are victims of gender-based violence, and have now seen it as a common practice.
Eyong noted that, “The conference is to discuss and give critical and inspiring insights on how to tackle the menace in Nigeria and the West African region.”
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