Two civil-society groups have demanded that the leadership of both the Senate and House of Assembly call for a public hearing of the Gender and Equal Opportunity bill.
The call is to speed up ratification of the bill, according to both groups namely: the National Coalition on Affirmative Action, and the Vaccine Network for Disease Control.
The Gender and Equal Opportunity bill seeks to guarantee the rights of women to access: equal opportunities in employment, equal rights to inheritance for both male and female children, equal rights for women in marriage and divorce, equal access to education, property and land ownership and inheritance.
It will also protect the rights of widows and guarantee appropriate measures against gender discrimination in political and public life and the prohibition of violence towards women.
The call to end delayed public hearing of the bill specifically names Senate president Bukola Saraki, House speaker Yakubu Dogara, as well as the senate committee on judiciary, human rights and legal matters.
The groups also want legislators to introduce the bill to state legislatures where it hasn’t been put into legislative process.
They also called on human rights civil society groups in states as well state ministries of women affairs to push for the bill to be introduced in respective states.
“There are wide inequalities that have continued to threaten our unity or existence as a viable nation state,” Chika Offor, of the Vaccine Network For Disease Control, said in a statement.
“There are numerous untapped opportunities, and these opportunities are missed largely by Nigerians due to factors of sex and gender and social status.
“With increasing feminized poverty, it is safe to conclude that more women are less opportune than men,” he added.
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