International Women’s Day: NEXIM MD charges women on effective education

 Mr Abba Bello, Managing Director, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has stressed the need for women and girls to be effectively educated, to be at par with their male counterparts.

Bello spoke at the NEXIM Bank International Women’s Day programme on Thursday in Abuja, with the theme, “Each for Equal: Breaking the Stereotype and Strengthening Social Inclusion and Diversity”.

He said that to ensure equality with men, women must be educated.

According to him, women are born equal to the men and their contributions increase the productivity of the economy, but more of them need to be educated.

Similarly, the Country Director, UN Women, Ms Comfort Lamptey, while commending the management of NEXIM for recognizing the importance of women, said that there was need to invest in education of women and girls.

Lamptey, represented by Mrs Patience Ekeoba, Programme Officer, UN Women, Nigeria, said that there should be training for girls and women, as well as equal opportunity for both women and men.

She said that women should not be limited to certain roles in the society, but should be allowed to explore.

According to her, the negative perception about women and girls is the biggest challenge in achieving gender equality.

She said that a lot of women were depressed today because of violence in their work place.

Lamptey said that violence against women in the work place should be condemned.

“We should remove barriers that prevent women from performing optimally and achieving their goals,” she said.

The country director, however, said that significant progress had been recorded in gender equality in the past 25 years.

Mr Toun Sonaiya, Managing Director, Women Radio, said that both public and private sectors should create conducive environment for women to work, even if it meant working from home.

“The work place should be made safe for both men and women to work, and women should be engaged from time to time to know why they are not performing as expected.

“Men should support the women to excel in their work place for effective service delivery,” Sonaiya said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this year’s theme for International Women’s Day  celebrated on March 8 is, “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.”