Nigeria is lagging behind in gender inclusiveness – Onyechere

By Jennifer John

The head of gender and women affairs and other cross cutting issues for the African Union Ecusop house in Nigeria, Adaora Onyechere has berated Nigeria for being far behind in the issue of gender inclusiveness, instead of being in the forefront and playing the role of big brother for other African countries.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent, Onyechere said the issue of gender inclusiveness should be in the front burner of ongoing discussions in Nigeria.

She expressed great reservation that the Violence Against Persons (VAP) bill has not been domesticated in many states of Nigeria.

Onyechere however called on the girl child and young women in Nigeria not to be demoralized, but have confidence that there are strong voices advocating for them at the highest level.

She suggested amendment to Nigerian school curriculum to make it gender sensitive and also advocated financial inclusion for women from all financial institutions and agencies.

Responding to the question on the significance of two female emerging final two contestants for the world trade organization (WTO) leadership, Onyechere described it as a good development in the issue of gender inclusiveness.

She expressed confidence that Ngozi Okonjo Iweala who has always been a strong voice in gender advocacy will emerge victorious, which she said will have a lot of positive influence in girl child development in Nigeria.