As a woman on the board of four civil society organisations in Nigeria; Youth Empowerment Foundation (YEF), Positive Action for Treatment Access (PATA) as well as Development Communications Network (Devcoms) and Ovie Brume Foundation, Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, a public health specialist, nutritionist and an avid sports lover has done a lot in women and girls empowerment and health. She speaks with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE on why women must learn to delegate due to their multiple roles and sundry issues.
Is the Nigerian society fair to women?
The Nigerian society is not fair to anybody; it’s not fair to men, it’s not fair to women, it’s not fair to children, it’s not fair to adolescents, it’s not fair to young people. And that is what I’ll say about this. How do you have head of governments who have decided to allocate huge sums of money to purchase vehicles when the common man cannot even afford a decent meal in a day? So when you talk about fairness generally, where do you want to start from? The Nigerian society is a patriarchal society and we know, and it’s not about to change anytime soon. So I think the key thing is that let’s have a Nigerian society that is fair to all. When you have a Nigerian society that is fair to all, definitely it will be easy to talk about fairness to women, because the truth of the matter is, when you look at what is happening currently in Nigeria, things are really, really bad. I just feel it’s not about women; it’s about the Nigerian society itself being fair to its own people.
Policies are made that do not have an impact on women at the grassroots, how can this be changed?
When you want to make policies or to conduct programmes for grassroots women, if you don’t have their direct involvement, if you don’t have their voice, whatever it is you’re doing, you’re just wasting your time. It’s not going to be relevant. And that applies across several domains. Even if you want to implement a project in the community, they need to have a voice.
What are your thoughts about women having multiple streams of income?
Now, the truth is, currently in Nigeria, having just one source of income, is actually dangerous, because that source of income can dry up within minutes or even within a day. So it’s important for you to have diverse ways of earning incomes. So even if you have a steady job, it’s important for you to have other things that you’re doing by the side, which does not mean that you’re not making your deliverables on your regular job, but also to have earning income through other several means.
What is Youth Empowerment Foundation about?
Youth Empowerment Foundation started in 1995. In another couple of years, we’ll probably be 30 years. And so, what this means is that we have generations of young people who have passed through our doors, who have participated in different programmes, who are now paying it forward, also supporting young people wherever they are, whether within the country or outside. When we started, we focused on reproduction health problems, information, ensuring that young people had information on reproductive health, their bodies and have services on reproductive health. But as we evolve, we realised that having access to entrepreneurship opportunities and economic empowerment opportunities gives young people edge to even be able to stand up and contribute their own quota not only to the society, but also be able to earn income. We have vocational training programs that we ensure that vulnerable young people have access to, and they are trained. Whatever vocation that you’re interested in, we can guide and set you up to participate in that vocation. And so when you finish, you also have the capacity to pay it forward and also encourage young people to come into your businesses and learn more and also have the opportunity of earning an income.
Now, one of the key things that we also do is sports for development programmes. And we use our sports for development programmes not just as a tool for fitness and wellness, but also to build young girls, in particular their self esteem, their self confidence, the team spirit, and learning to work together towards a common goal. We promote Taekwondo and then we promote football, particularly for young girls. And we work in public schools across Abuja, Ibadan and Lagos in about 25 communities, providing this so that young people have the opportunity to work together, to play together, and then to improve their life skills. And, like I said, we have generations of young girls who have passed through this programme who now go back into some of the schools that they went through whilst they were in secondary school to give back to the girls in the secondary school.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
How I helped Peter Obi overcome impeachment plot as Anambra governor — Sowore
Self-styled human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore has revealed an age-long secret about Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in…
Yuletides: Low-key Christmas looms as poultry birds price rise than last years’
In less than 10 days to Christmas, the price of poultry birds in Ibadan is projected to be higher than last year mostly because of…
Comedian Mark Angel apologises over Emanuella’s viral dance video
Nigerian comedian Mark Angel has issued an apology following the circulation of a viral video featuring his…
A 35-year-old suspect, Akeem, who was arrested by detectives in Ogun State Police Command after…
Top 13 facts about Buhari at 81
As he marks his 81st birthday on Sunday December 17th, roughly six months after the completion of his two terms as…
CAF crowns Nigeria’s Osimhen African Player of the Year
Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, has been crowned the African Player of the Year 2023 by the Confederation of…
