AFRICAN women have been challenged to partner with progressive forces to transform the continent from mass poverty to prosperity for all; frontline labour leader, Comrade Issa Aremu, made the call on Monday to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD).
Speaking in Ilorin on Monday at events to mark 2021 IWD organised by the state chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Aremu hailed the remarkable and inspiring contributions of women to the development of Nigeria despite their low representation in leadership positions.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s IWD, “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World – Choose to Challenge,” Comrade Aremu, who is the incumbent Vice President of IndustriALL Global Union, and the immediate past General Secretary of Nigeria Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) observed that women stood at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic as healthcare workers and caregivers, adding that the relative success in curtailing the spread of the virus was due to the sacrifices of women.
According to him, the pandemic crisis has highlighted what he called “centrality of the contributions and the disproportionate burdens women carry in society”. While commending the efforts of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19, Aremu said gender-based violence, like rape, should be treated like a pandemic with solidarity of all stakeholders, adding “that violence against women is an injury to all”.
Comrade Aremu, who was the 2019 governorship candidate on the platform of the Labour Party, hailed the appointment of women by President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that women in public office must change the narrative of Nigeria from that of a failing society to a strong and prosperous country that serves all, not just the rich and powerful in the society.
