Aisha Buhari Unveils Gender Policy For Armed Forces
The President’s wife, Aisha Buhari, on Wednesday, unveiled the Gender Policy for the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) to promote gender mainstreaming in the nation’s armed forces.
Mrs Buhari, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women Affairs and Administration, Dr Hajo Sani, commended the military for taking step towards actualising gender mainstreaming in the armed forces.
She said that the policy had the propensity of opening up opportunities not only for the female personnel but also for the children aspiring to join the military.
According to her, the policy has set the stage for every woman in the AFN to begin to play a significant role in the defence of the nation from all forms of security challenges that confront Nigeria.
“It is on record that women and girls exert more efforts than the men and boys to prove their competence in many chosen areas of endeavour including the military.
“Therefore, the Armed Forces of Nigeria has set itself up to benefit maximally from the abundant innate capacities and capabilities women and children possess.
“It is also heartwarming that with this giant step, the Armed Forces of Nigeria is encouraged to ensure that the large part of the population contributes to the task of defending the country against its enemies,” she said.
She said that one of the cardinal focus of her Future Assured Programme under Aisha Buhari Foundation was the quest for gender inclusiveness and increased participation of women in decision-making processes.
She expressed hope that because women had been “imbued with wisdom that enables them to unite systems”, they would play a critical role in bringing solutions to various security challenges confronting the country.
This effort, according to her, is an added impetus to the efforts of Nigeria through the Ministry of Women Affairs and other civil society organisations working on ensuring women and girl children rights in the male-dominated environment of Nigeria.
She advocated that the policy should keep in view the challenges that militate against women emancipation, adding that gender stereotype against women was a potential threat to their advancement in the military.
According to her, there are a good number of reported cases where women were prevented from participating in combat duties, excluding pregnancy or maternity.
“Women are often restricted to careers within the supportive aspect of the military such as finance, human resource, personnel, logistics, medical services, welfare etc.
“I enjoin the military women to continuously take note of this and vehement exception to such psychological oppression with the formulation of this policy.
“The security issues bedeviling our Country Nigeria still abound probably because we are yet to redefine the Armed Forces of Nigeria to explore the potentials of women for operational effectiveness.
“Women possess the traits of patience, perseverance and passion. Because of the emotional buildup of women, we possess the tendency to transmit the same spirit to any task,” she said.
Speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, said the complexity and dynamism of the spectrum of security challenges facing the world demand that all useful approaches and means must be employed to combat the menace emanating therefrom.
Irabor said it was the realisation that gender disparity contributed in no small measure to the suffering of women and girls in any environment that birthed the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325.
He said that the crux of the resolution aimed at ensuring that women and their societal needs were safeguarded through increased emphasis on granting access to opportunities in all spheres of human endeavours including the military.
