Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has underscored the need to engage state governments across the country to deepen advocacy against gender-based violence and strengthen official efforts to prevent it.
Osinbajo said this on Tuesday while receiving Mrs Leymah Gbowee, the Liberian activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for non-violent struggle, safety and women’s rights.
“Driving prosecution for sex offenders is best done at the state level, particularly strengthening the States to do so at the National Economic Council (NEC),” he was quoted in a statement issued by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President.
The vice president stressed the need for states to exercise political will in order to get the desired results, as well as provide the necessary funding to implement, while working together with the private sector.
Osinbajo, while speaking on the Sex Offenders Register, said “it was something that needed a lot of attention, changing the orientation of men in particular, to understand it’s a campaign that must be championed by men.
Mrs Gbowee, who spoke earlier during the visit, noted the prevalence of rape in and out of conflict zones with impunity across Africa.
She said the successful launch of the sex offenders register in Nigeria is a huge milestone and Nigeria has set the precedence for other African countries to follow.
Mrs Gbowee, who is visiting Nigeria, gave the keynote address at the launch of the sex offenders register organized by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), yesterday.
