Mrs. Hilda Mba: in Nigeria though the percentage of women occupying key positions in governance has increased from a mere seven per cent to 15 per cent. This is a far cry from what is obtainable in other countries, where women representation in government is about 50per cent but we are still better than other countries like Romania, Poland and Slovenia where not a single woman hold a cabinet position.
WM: What was the idea behind your project?
Hilda: The idea behind this project is to be able to encourage women to say no to oppression, degradation, marginalisation and neglect. These factors have affected the psyche and esteem of the average Nigerian woman, making them easy prey for all kinds of violence. Recent statistics also show that 57 per cent of the world women population are still victimized and abused which is partly due to ignorance and illiteracy as studies also suggest that women constitute about two-third of the world’s one billion illiterate. With all these in place, there was the need for a forum to be put in place.
WM: Is your organisation and NGO and is it affiliated with the government and the United Nations?
Hilda: We are not an NGO; we are just a consultancy firm that hopes to take the level of an average Nigerian woman to a place where she can stand on her own without fear and low self esteem because of the psychological trauma in which she has been put through. We are affiliated with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, who will help to drive the message further for a better and free gender biased society.
WM: It is believed that anything to do with any of the federal parastatals is just another opportunity for a white elephant project as everything is just done on paper, why don’t you partner with core NGOs that have core interest in issues of this sort?
Hilda: A point of correction there for you it is wrong to say that because the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs is doing a lot to see that this problem is reduced and if possible eradicated from the society. The ministry has a programme that it is running called ‘shelter’ which provides succour to women who find themselves in such situations. This is one of the problems we are talking about; people are not well informed of where they can go to if they are faced with such things. So what we are doing is to have them informed, in a nutshell information is the key.
WM: Having them informed means preparing them towards taking decisions that might affect them one way or the other. Do you in anyway have any legal back up if such cases happen that a woman decides to leave her home?
Hilda: Of course we have legal backing that is why we are partnering with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs which will handle situations like this. You see some of these women are naive and do not know what to do in such cases. We are not saying there are no frictions in marriage but when it is at one’s detriment then there is need for caution to be taken. We do not just sensitize and leave them on their own. When they take decisions we always and do have backing for them as a way of supporting them.
WM: What have been your challenges?
Hilda: The challenges have been enormous as some women are not even aware that they have rights and they have a right to be happy in taking a positive decision for themselves and the overall family. You meet a lady who at 25 has already given up on life because of what she has gone through in life when in actual fact that should be the beginning of her life. Such women need encouragement and support from every well meaning Nigerians or persons in the society.
WM: We hear of these criminal activities after the damage must have been done? What have you put in place to see that these criminal acts are stopped and prevented from happening?
Hilda: We have put all that in place as we hope to have our publication which will be out by the end of this month distributed all over the country and have them also translated in the three major languages so that they can be easily understood. We are also taking the campaign to the grassroots, religious bodies, schools and traditional rulers who will help spread the message across, that we are all equal and women should be treated with some level of respect and dignity. It is a starting point and we hope to sustain it till we reach a time when there is no more violence against women in the society.
WM: There is already this psychology that the woman is the maker of the home and she is supposed to tolerate whatever situation she finds herself in by being patient. How do you hope to fight that psychology?
Hilda: This is the reason why we say we need to talk repeatedly about this problem because so many women die in silence due to this psyche of patience no matter what. If we keep mute about it and just watch women being degraded and oppressed then the problem will never go away instead it will be worse which will also one way or the other tell on the society. There is the need to change our orientation about some of these psyches we already have imbibed in us by culture.
WM: How do you intend to inculcate these policies into our culture?
Hilda: Human rights cut across all cultures at least no culture allows a woman to be battered, oppressed or sexually mutilated. We will find a way to inculcate it into our culture as there is no culture or even religion that says a woman can be oppressed or badly battered.
WM: Could you describe who a total woman is?
Hilda: A total woman is one who knows her right and how to go about it, one who has self respect for herself and spouse and those around her. One who can stand up for herself and say no to discrimination and violence against her or anybody. A total woman is one who sees progress of the society from the view of freedom and self respect for women by all.
