Speaker House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has given commitments towards ensuring participation of more women in governance and policymaking in the country.
He gave the commitment at the Launch of the Gender and Education Parity Advocacy Project (GEPAP), a project supported by the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State, in Abuja, on Thursday.
Represented by his Senior Legislative Aide, Khadijah Sulaiman Ali, the speaker emphasized the importance of education, saying he is making efforts to end gender and education disparity in not just North Central, but across the country.
According to the organisers of the event, the main goal of the research titled, “Ending Gender and Education Disparity in North Central Nigeria: Contextual Analysis, Policy Interventions, and Advocacy Steps for Change-Makers”, is to provide a customized understanding of advocacy and gender equality in the education landscape of the North Central.
The GEPAP Project Lead, Mrs Rahmat Abdullahi, said the event was an opportunity for policymakers and change-makers to reflect on the reality that despite education being recognized as a fundamental right, countless girls and women in the North Central continue to face barriers and inequalities in accessing quality education.
“There lie opportunities to ignite change, challenge norms, and empower generations of girls and women. The research we are launching today is not just an academic exercise. It is a call to action, a roadmap for transformation, and a beacon of hope for marginalized communities.”
“Today, we present policy interventions and advocacy steps to catalyze change and give hope to the girl child. The time for action is now. At the end of this programme, let us leave this room, fighting harder that our education policies are feminist, our classrooms are inclusive, and our learning spaces are safe and empowering for girls,” she said.
The policy launch also had in attendance the Minister of Youth Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, who commended the team’s effort on the research work and practicable policy recommendations.
Bio, represented by her Personal Assistant, Miss Aisha Sambo, reassured that her office was at the forefront of dismantling gender disparities in education and inclusive governance where Nigerian youths play more roles in leadership and decision-making processes in the country.
While presenting the research work, the Lead Researcher, Shakir Akorede, analyzed the impediments to girls’ education in North Central, which include harmful gender stereotypes, gender-based violence, early pregnancies, poverty, child marriage, poor infrastructure, insecurity and poor sanitation facilities.
Akorede noted that poverty is a perennial enabler that must be tackled for the region to achieve gender equality in the education landscape of the North Central region.
The Development Communication Consultant shared some recommendations from their research.
“The recommendations, grounded in a contextual understanding of the region’s challenges, traverse community engagement, policy advocacy, empowerment programs, teacher training, infrastructure enhancement, parental involvement, and robust monitoring and evaluation.
“The central objective is to catalyze a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach that acknowledges the unique socio-cultural nuances of the North Central region.”
Hamzat Lawal, chief executive of Connected Development (CODE), emphasized the roles and responsibilities every individual plays in ensuring a girl child gets educated and charged stakeholders present to be actively involved in seeing this to reality.
Other stakeholders present at the launch were heads of Education Boards, Civil Society leaders, Community leaders, the media, and fellows of the GEPAP Project.
The event ended with renewed commitments by all to the actualization of gender and education disparity in Nigeria.
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