The Director-General of Good Leadership Organization (GLSO), Bridget Torbua Igbauke has called for the participation of women in the frontlines of conflict resolution as they are major stakeholders in cases of conflict and displacement.
Igbauke said that women are the most impacted by violence and conflicts, asserting, however, that women as messengers of peace were in a strategic position to facilitate peace when conflicts occur.
According to her, it was therefore contradictory that peace negotiations were limited only to men, adding that “women are messengers of peace and they are also leaders of moderation and equilibrium. Therefore, access to the peace process should not be left in the hands of men alone.
“It seems contradictory that men often take the space in discussing peace as if violence and peace processes are the exclusive preserve of men. No one or group of persons should stop women.”
Igbauke described the absence of women in peace negotiations as an aberration, disclosing further that the absence of women as peacemakers in most peace talks is an aberration as conflicts affect women more.
“It affects them more since they are often left to cater for their children and the children of displaced extended family members and sometimes in refugee camps. It is high time women began to take responsibility for peace processes in Nigeria since most of the time it is women and children that suffer the most.
“Perhaps, we should ask ourselves these questions, why should most women and children suffer from the peculiarities that come with violence whereas the decisions to perpetrate violence are mostly occasioned and orchestrated by men?” she questioned.
Igbauke said that the participation of women was key to having their voices heard and to protecting the future of their children as well as their properties, and by extension, Nigeria.
She also said women need to drum the messages of peace to the ears of their spouses, brothers, and children, so they could espouse unison for the sustainability of peaceful coexistence amongst Nigerians.
In another development, she thanked the Zamfara State government, the security agencies, and all stakeholders who made it possible for the release of the Jangebe schoolgirls by bandits who abducted them.
