By Palma Ileye
Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen has declared that the HeforShe, Male Champions of Gender-Equality have a lot of roles to play in ensuring that the deprived women of Nigeria are given back their voices in the scheme of things.
Tallen was speaking when the High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, His Excellency, James Christoff, whom the Minister describes as a great HeforShe, led his team of four to visit her.
She described the good people of Canada, the Canadian Government and the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria as great ally and support of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in all that she does in the areas of “Gender-Based Violence (GBV); Female Genital Mutilation (FGM); Political situation of women being denied their rights in Nigeria; Women being denied their rights in their various communities; Girls being denied their rights as they grow up; and many other issues of women.
The Women Affairs Minister revealed that one of her achievements which she holds very dear, has been the intensified advocacies on prohibition of violence against persons through the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act which she drove to the extent that only eight (8) States adopted the Act upon her assumption of office in 2019, but now 35 States have adopted the VAPP Act to the exclusion of one, which is Kano State, which she said she won’t give up on.
His Excellency, James Christoff’s visit to the Honourable Minister took place on 4th May, 2023 at the Headquarters of the women affairs ministry which the diplomat described as a “monument”.
The Canadian High Commissioner had earlier stated that he is visiting “to show solidarity for the efforts and actions, which have been singular and focused” that the Minister has put in, to create space for women, more especially as she’s getting ready to exit the government.
The High Commissioner revealed that the efforts and actions of Pauline Tallen as head of the women affairs Ministry which the Canadian High Commission has identified with in “both financial and moral” supports are those which Canada “holds dear.”
The Canadian High Commissioner earlier summed up the achievements of the outgoing women affairs minister as “legacies” being left for the women in Nigeria as he remarked that “Nothing changes; It is actions that change things”, and the Minister has put in quite a lot.
H.E. James Christoff also stated that Canada is interested in appreciating how the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs under Pauline Tallen was able to drive advocacies and change and addressing gaps with the Women Affairs Ministries at the States’ level.
Tallen revealed that with Nigeria being a federation, “the Federal Ministry needs the States and the States need the Federal; and we can only succeed when we work together.” She stated most of the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) take place at the local government level; that there are Social Welfare Officers also at that level through the Commissioners, which are needed to properly handle such infractions.
Dame Tallen, while expressing appreciations for the support of the Canadian High Commissioner appealed that same support should also be extended to her successor in office when the incoming government takes effect.
