Ahead of the 2017 annual International Women’s Day, Nigerian Women coalition have announced a major protest march scheduled to hold in Lagos on March 8th.
Details of the march was presented at a press conference jointly addressed by leaders of the Women Arise and Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin and Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi respectively at the Airport Hotel in Lagos today.
The protest which will hold in Lagos on March 8th is planned to commence from the Ikeja under-bridge at 7am and would proceed to the House of Assembly & terminate at the Government Secretariat at Alausa.
Women groups involved in the March 8th planned protest includeWomen Arise, WARDC, UNIC, GADA, MediaCon, CEE-HOPE, EiE, FIDA,African Women Lawyers Association, FOMWAN, UAD, CDHR, NLC Women, Women Wing of the Christians Association of Nigeria (WOWICAN), TUC Women, Women Lawyers, Artisans including Tailors, Hairdressers as well as other professionsal groups in trade and Academics,Community Life Project & others.
Their Press Conference today is preparatory to the International Women’s Day and designed to address various issues confronting the female gender both in the home front and at various places for work.
The Women groups in Lagos State had in an earlier meeting reaffirm issues of concerns for women and also to follow up with the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Mr Akinwumi Ambode on the Gender Pact signed on Wednesday, 8th of April 2015.
His Excellency, Governor Akinwumi Ambode signed the gender pact at a Civil Society gathering in Protea Hotel, the Pact, which was a 12 point demand seeks to improve the state of women’s rights in relation to health, education, economy and poverty alleviation, vulnerable groups, decision making, environment, agriculture, child abuse and violence against women and security. However women and human right activists are still concerned about the development in some sectors such as health, women’s participation, economic empowerment and other areas.
Coincidentally, this year’s theme of the International Women’s Day is ‘Be bold for Change’. International Women’s Day (March 8) is a United Nations approved observance day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The women groups say the theme creates an impetus for women groups to resolve that the gender cannot remain silent in the face of oppression that have continued to affect their daily lives.
The Women’s March, with a clarion call #WomenMoveNow will serve as a platform to celebrate women’s contributions to communities and cultures in Lagos state, raising awareness of the different issues that women face in their own context, and pushing for gender equality in the State and the need for the state to adopt a uniform Gender Policy.
The groups say they recognize that progress on gender equality has been slow in Nigeria, citing that the girl-child education, women’s participation in decision-making and livelihood endeavours are yet to be prioritised.
They also decried situation that although women accounted for more than 50% of Nigeria’s population, women still hold less than 10% of the principal elective positions at the Federal and State levels of the Government.
The women have adopted the catchphrase and social media tag #WomenMoveNow for the protest on March 8th in Lagos.