It is with great sense of appreciation to God for sparing the lives of women in the State that we join women across the globe in commemorating the year 2020 International Women's Day. The 8th March every year has been set aside for the celebration of this global event.
Today, we gather in the spirit of celebration to recognise the manifestly beneficial and vital achievements and contributions of women, we celebrate our triumphs, our struggles and our agitations. It is a day set aside to ruminate on our challenges, how yielding our agitations have been and to discuss and map out the way forward. We also use the commemoration to rededicate ourselves on many fronts to tackle the problems facing womanhood.
This year's commemoration is remarkable because it marks the 25th year of the Beijing Declaration. The Beijing Declaration was a world Assembly of Government coming together to affirm the equality of women with men and to basically protect and uphold the interests of women irrespective of affiliations.
Two decades and a half down the line, nothing much has been recorded in terms of realisation of those set goals.
Women continue to face workplace and employment discriminations, Gender based violence, abuse, religious, societal and political relegations.
The 35% affirmative policy for the inclusion of women in elective positions remain a mirage, certain positions remain a no go area for women, twelve million girls find themselves in forced child marriage before the age of 18, six hundred and fifty million women were child brides, 33,000 girls are estimated to go into child marriage per day, women in Africa lack comfortable source of water and access to healthy water, only 6 countries out of 197 give women equal legal work rights as men, only 22% of women in the world are professionals, women are 60% of the very poor and the critically hungry in the world, women are seen and taken to be objects of pleasure. These and very many more are the recent statistics of gender inequalities women face across the world.
With these, can we afford to fold our arms?, Do we keep mute while our conditions as women deteriorate?, Should we be onlookers knowing fully well we can make meaningful contributions that will turn the tides of our nations for good?.
First, as individuals and as societies, we must continue to strive to ensure that we create an environment that thrives women, a society which enables the realisation of women's achievements and ambitions. We must with unbending will continue to denounce all forms of stereotypical ideas and values which pull women down and below men. We should join hands to propagate the complementary roles of both genders.
The solution to the unending search for a greater and better society lies in gender parity and women empowerment. These are key to the development of any nation. Women have distinguished themselves when they are allowed to display their inherent abilities. I make bold to say that there is nothing a woman can not do if she has the opportunity. At this juncture, I celebrate all women, I celebrate the powers within us, I celebrate the powers and light behind and around us, I celebrate our source and our essence, I celebrate the light in us, I celebrate us.
I call on everyone to work towards the uplift of women as the fight for gender equality is not a women's fight but a human fight.
I beseech us to look beyond the sex of women and see them as a human.
I sincerely appreciate my Governor, His Excellency, Adegboyega Oyetola for being a gender friendly man, a role model on the cause of gender equality, a sponsor and promoter of women and women's causes, a patriarch per excellence.
Very recently, the Governor appointed Rtd.CP Abiodun Ige as his Security Adviser, this is a typical example of looking beyond the gender, an example of seeing women as humans. The Governor also approved the launching of the State Vocational Empowerment Scheme for women, he is also working tirelessly at ensuring good health for women and recently, through the Osun Health Insurance Scheme, Mr. Governor is working at vaccinating women in the State against the deadly cancer HPV.
Mr. Governor is also supporting women who are violated by endorsing the toll free line for victims of domestic abuse to report incidences. Having identified the roles and contributions of our women in nation building, Mr. Governor has included women in his developmental agenda, he has taken a bold step towards empowering and encouraging women to participate fully in the public domain.
I therefore charge all leaders, policy makers and decision moulders to press for progress for women, I charge you to push until women progress and norms that hold women from reaching the target in gender equality are shattered.
I thank Her Excellency, the First Lady of the State, Alhaja Kafayat Oyetola for being a natural and conscious advocate of women. Her Excellency has always been in the front line of women emancipation ever before she became the wife of the Governor, occupying the position has allowed her to be able to touch more lives and invest in our women.
I beseech other First Ladies to tow this line.
As we continue our struggles for gender equality, I wish us accelerated success and a happy year 2020 International Women's Day.
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