By Gloria Akudoro, Abuja.
The Women Affairs Minister, Dame Paulen Tallen, Tuesday decried the alarming rate of gender-base violence (GBV) and other issues while calling for the support of men in addressing the urgly situation faced by women and girls in Nigeria.
The Minister made the call while receiving the Boys Champion delegation led by Noel Ifeanyi Alumona who paid a visit to present the 1st Place Winner of AFS Award for JNG Global Citizens awarded to the founder of the organization, Noel Ifeanyi Alumona, a Diasporean in Abuja.
The courtesy visit was also in conjunction with delegation from Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) led by Ms. Oloye Olufunke, Senior Information Officer and Ms. Idio Elyon, Senior Diaspora Officer.
According to her, “women cannot continue to speak alone on issue of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and other atrocities committed against them without soliciting the support of men such as the Boys Champion organization to lend their voices to speak out and to condemn all forms of violence against women and girls.”
She said, the call is not to be at war with the opposite gender but work hands-in-hand to ensure positive result is yielded in the gender matters as well as to spotlight violence against vulnerable persons in whatever form it may take.
Commending the DG NIDCOM, Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa for her zealousness on Diaspora matters, Dame Tallen stated the Ministry’s commitment towards ensuring NIDCOM meets her set aims and objectives a success of its aims and objectives.
Tallen who discribed the Ministry as a ‘Diaspora-inclined organization’ commended the contributions of the Boys Champion back home as exemplary as their support for women and girls is a way of contributing their quota to the development of the country. She also laud the NGO for taking on the complex task of training young men on gender rights and equality especially the awareness-creation in Enugu State which focuses on young men respecting women and to end GBV.
Also speaking, the Boys Champion founder, Noel Ifeayin Alumona who expressed delight on the warm gesture accorded to them, said the essence of their visit was to invite the Minister for forthcoming event schedule to hold in Enugu State focusing on young men working with women to end gender-based violence. He added that the event which would attract international speakers would be disseminated on different media platform.
Boys Champion is a non-governmental organization supported by theNigeria’s Diaspora Commission (NDC), focuses on mentorship and capacity building for boys and young men as they journey onto manhood.