Rabi Saulawa, the new president of Jam’iyyar Matan Arewa, JMA, has called on women to unite against insecurity in northern Nigeria.
In a speech she delivered at the National Executive Council Meeting of the JMA, held in Kaduna on Thursday, Ms Saulawa said women, irrespective of tribe, religion or culture must unite to fight insecurity in the region.
According to her, the crises in the North affects Muslims, Christians, traditionalists and atheists, calling on women to take the fight is theirs because they always the victims.
She therefore urged women to collaborate with security forces to eradicate the menace of insecurity in the North and the nation as a whole.
“Northern Nigeria is the most affected region in terms of lack of security thus we women must play a big role as mothers to promote peace and harmony,” she said.
On programmes to be executed within her four-year tenure, Mrs Saulawa observed that there are a lot of issues that hinder the growth of the Northern women in rural areas.
She said educating and empowering women and girls would enable them develop themselves, their families and their communities.
Consequently, she said, their social standards would rise “and the ills and vices caused by poverty through ignorance will be eradicated.”
“Issues like early marriage which produces early divorce that leads to high child prostitution, cause VVF and RVF patients, hawking ,street begging, drug abuse and high drug related violence and even Almajirianci, will decrease as no financially empowered women will allow her child out of her sight to God knows where,” she stated.
The new JMA national leader also promised to strengthen local government chapters of the association, adding that they are key to reaching the hinterlands of the region.
“During my campaigns I paid courtesy calls on our royal fathers and their wives in each state of Northern Nigeria to intimate them on my agenda as they are the nearest to the local population of their various domains. JMA will work hand in hand with them to uplift the lives of Northern communities.
“A needs assessment tour of all states to ascertain their individual needs will be carried out soon for proper planning and execution of our programs and projects that will meet their requirements.
“I have realized through time that we need to change the way we do things in the North. We have been dealing with our problems the same way for decades without impacting on our populace. I believe we have to start thinking outside the box to find innovative and impactful solutions to our myriad of problems that keep escalating daily.
“In the same vein, we are also reaching out to indigenous think tanks and development strategists such as Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP) to help us in finding lasting solutions. As we prepare to churn out our development programs and projects to the states, we have also started collaborating with state governments and international donor agencies, other NGO’s and Stakeholders holders.
“I will urge all Arewa women to come and register with us so we can do this enormous task together. We at the JMA have agreed to jettison the three most deadly enemies of our unity which are ethnicity, religion, and politics to ensure peace and security.
“You must agree with me that no meaningful development can take place in chaos; therefore, the business of seeing that we all live in peace and harmony is our collective business.
“We must be alert to the happenings in our environment and report to the authorities the moment we fear for our lives. We must be security conscious so that we can secure the safety of ourselves and family and our properties.”
