The Association of Women Orientations for Sustainable Development in Nigeria (AWON) has decried the situation of all sectors in the country, by calling on all critical stakeholders in these sectors to ensure appropriate solutions are provided to effect the needed change.
The membership organisation of about 60 women-focused organisations made this call on Tuesday, during a press conference, at its June 2022 meeting, where a couple of free health services like health talk on mental health, checking of blood pressure and HIV status were rendered to participants.
Speaking to journalists at the Women Development Centre, Samonda, Ibadan, the president of the association, Chief Mrs Oluwatoye decried the state economic crises and the level of corruption that is being reported in various sectors across the country.
Oluwatoye said: “Corruption is at the highest level and it has caught across every step of the society. Corruption in our country destroyed the economy.”
While condemning corruption strongly, she, however, admonished all Nigerians to shun it at every instance, in order to have it reduced to the barest minimum.
Lending her voice to the conversation, Dr Awosanya called on Nigerians to work together on nation-building and not only expect the government to solve the crisis of unemployment. While attributing the spate of insecurity to unemployment, she called on everyone, especially the youths, to resuscitate the manufacturing sector in the country, she said, “in the area of insecurity, unemployment has led to the problems, because our youths are now into several social vices; they are not busy. There are so many online businesses youths can do with as low as N20,000 naira with a well-comported behaviour.”
“We clamour that the government should try as much as possible to fortify our borders because they are porous. They should invest in modern tech security facilities so that investors will not be scared away from Nigeria,” she added.
The Director-General of Tabitha Foundation, Mrs Bola Thompson, advocated for unity and ethnicity tolerance in Nigeria. She hinted at the need for the government to deploy measures to end jungle justice and intertribal violence across the country. While speaking on gender inequality in our society, she as well, called on governments at all levels to run an inclusive cabinet as opined that women are being marginalised.
Thompson who called for special attention in the education sector described the presence of university students at home due to the four-month ASUU strike as that of “a nation sitting on the keg of a gunpowder, as the idle hand is a devil’s workshop”. She, on behalf of other women, demanded adequate infrastructures in schools and an increase in budgetary allocation to education.
The president of AMWES, Alhaja Faozat Alabi advised the government at all levels to reduce the cost of governance and then divert such funds to infrastructure projects in the education and health sector. She bemoaned the lack of necessary science equipment in school laboratories and testing equipment in notable government hospitals, which she described as an eyesore that is far different from what it used to be during her heydays.
Dr Sade Taiwo of CEDAR, in her contribution, called for adequate management of resources and a workable channel of wealth distribution amongst members of the public. She attributed the imbalance in wealth distribution to our system of government. Taiwo said, “We are running a government where all the powers and the resources reside at the federal level. And we have gotten so used to this system yet that the resources are not being adequately managed as it ought to be because a few people are deciding for everybody, which is why many people are talking about restructuring.”
“We are depending on borrowing, as a nation. At the end of 2021, the percentage of debt service was about 96% of our revenue. We are only spending 21% of our revenue on capital expenditure. So, we are living in debt as a nation. Government should diversify its economy. It should move from oil dependence to agriculture and that provide facilities and safety for farmers that are ready.”
Mr Adepoju however called on Nigerians and the government to stand together against terrorism.
“Fight against terrorism isn’t about being a Yoruba, a Hausa or an Igbo person. Terrorists are in Nigeria because they know we have resources to cater for their immediate needs. They kill Christians, Muslims and anybody. The only way to put an end to it is to come together as one and send them off our land,” he said.
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