Saraki Seeks Equal Economic Empowerment For Women

Oru Leonard

The Honourable Minister of State for Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki has assured that the Federal Government will continue to support the female gender through policies that would empower them economically thereby enabling them to compete favourably in governance.

Sen. Saraki made the assertion on Tuesday when the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, paid her a courtesy call at Federal Ministry of Transportation Headquarters in Abuja.

Saraki thanked the President for finding women worthy of key appointments and believes the President will ascribe more responsibilities to them taking into consideration feats achieved by women in fields of governance, science, private practice and businesses.

The Minister advocated the prototype being practiced in America whereby women are given a certain percentage of government contracts as a way of empowering them.

She further argued that this is not only pertinent but the right thing to do as women do not only pay taxes but are professionals in all fields of endeavour.

Furthermore, Saraki enjoined the Minister of Women Affairs to create a Gender Desk in her Ministry because she has observed that a lot of women, men inclusive do not know how to apply for contracts, so there is need to provide enlightenment in this regard.

Still speaking, the Minister of State appreciated the fact that some line of businesses such as shipping are very expensive but enjoined women to come together as a unit, pull their resources together and overcome these challenges.

Speaking earlier, the Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen informed Sen. Gbemisola Saraki that the month of March has been singled out for the celebration of Women and it was originally to be in Beijing to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Conference but that was not to be due to Coronavirus. Undaunted, however they decided to have a celebration in Nigeria from 26th – 28th of March, 2020. She used the occasion to invite the Minister to the event which will be attended by the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari and other notable women in all spheres of life.

Dame Tallen said that the general idea about the celebration is to galvanize women, address women and girl-child issues and proffer way forward.

Similarly, she noted that as part of galvanizing support for the forthcoming celebration of women, they had paid a courtesy call to the newly appointed Head of Service, Mrs. Folashade Esan and now the Minister of State for Transportation because of their antecedents in championing the cause of women.

She equally made a plea on all women to support their female colleagues, while also stating that they should not forget to give back to the society through empowerment schemes while also use their positions to support the girl child who are particularly vulnerable with our society.

The minister of women affairs was escorted on the courtesy call by various directors within her ministry and also the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ).