In a bid to keep on pushing for women’s equality in Nigeria, Ambassador Pastor Edewor Egedegbe, Executive Director of Value Rebirth and Empowerment Initiative (VREI), has brought his advocacy to Bayelsa State, urging his male counterparts in the state to join in pushing for that.
Speaking on Wednesday in Yenagoa, when his team visited the leadership of Bayelsa Non -Governmental Organizations Forum (BANGOF), the executive director maintained that his organization with Male Feminist Network and African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), with support from Ford Foundatio,n had been championing the course of pushing this narrative around the Niger Delta Region.
He also disclosed that the Male Feminist Movement was born out of necessity because of what has been seen over time, which are social patriarchy and all the cultural biases that ” have been there before we were born adding that they are still there.
Narrating the reason for the visit, he said, “So we felt that it was necessary to address the issues. Let’s come together and see how we can get men to also champion the cause of equality. If men are now becoming champions, championing the cause of women, it will take a new dimension in terms of penetration.
He revealed that his group has taken the pain of championing the course and taking it to the front line of preaching this gospel of inequality using the vehicle of equity.
He continued:”Family-wise, we agree that man is the head of the home, but that is the design of God, but to now push the women aside, it becomes inequity. So we are saying that let there be equality.
“The man is the head of the home, but when it comes to society, please can we give room to women to try their capacity at any given opportunity out there. That is where equity comes in.
He stated that “Women are suffering more in terms of domestic violence occasioned by those patriarchal norms that have been there over the years. Whereas there is a law that forbids it, but not much of that law is known to people.
The leader said that people are always afraid when they hear about feminism, thinking that it is a women’s thing.
“But It not true. Who said we cannot change these norms that our fore fathers kept on ground for the betterment of society and for the betterment of humanity. Let’s give the women that equality even if not equal as par, but let’s raise the stakes.” He urged.
In his reaction, Barr. Taritein Boco, Chairman of BANGOF, Bayelsa State,
thanked the organisation for engaging men to take up this responsibility of changing the narrative that has been on over the years.
Although the advocacy cannot be achieved easily, he said that it is good that some men have joined some women to champion the cause.
Boco said:”It is exciting that we have been able to build a network of men that will take this advocacy to the front burner. It is not going to be easy.
“Advocacy like this is going to take a systematic journey because we are dealing with cultures, traditions and narratives that have been with us over the years, and it will take a while to actually change the minds of people.
“Sadly, most women think that when you talk about gender equality, you are talking about unseating the men and keeping the women standing. If you take an assessment, you will understand that few women really understand this issue of gender equality and how to actually drive the process through.”
He promised to take the advocacy seriously, promising to take it further than this. The group that will be organising a town hall meeting tomorrow ( Thursday) also took the advocacy to the Gender Response Initiative Team to keep them abreast of the campaign
