Ex-ILO Director Advocates Improved Collaboration to Achieve Peace, Unity
Gideon Arinze in Enugu
A former Assistant Director General and Regional Director at the International Labour Organisation, (ILO), Regina Amadi-Njoku yesterday called for increased collaboration in the fight against insecurity and quest for peace in the South-east and Nigeria at large.
Amadi-Njoku made the call while speaking at the 3rd Annual Conference of Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo, (NNII), a pan-Igbo socio-cultural held in Enugu State with the theme: “Women, a Unifying Force in Peacebuilding.”
NNII is a non-partisan, non-governmental organisation and think-tank dedicated to the welfare of Igbo women and is made up of Igbo women by ancestry or marriage.
In her address, Amadi-Njoku said that no society develops without security and peace and that Nigeria’s 133 million multi-dimensionally poor cannot be lifted out of poverty without security, justice and peace.
“We the women have watched with dismay how our society has descended into chaos,” she said. “The reality is that we must all understand that leaving governance to men has not worked effectively,” she added.
She regretted that women, who are the daughters, wives and mothers that fuel the informal sector have become the victims of the dysfunctional formal sector that development in politics seems to have excluded their input.
Amadi-Njoku, who is the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the group, attributed the decay in Nigerian society to the loss of values, noting that the time has come for Nigerians to return to the values of community, accountability, peace-making, among others.
“Igbo women and indeed all women play an important role in peace-keeping, arbitration, and the institutionalisation of justice in their families, communities and even nationally in ways that douse tension and promote peace,” she noted.
Earlier in her address, the President of the group, Iyom Anenih, noted that the theme of the conference would not have come at a better time than now that there is widespread insecurity in the South-east region and the entire country.
Anenih, a former minister of women affairs maintained that peace and security were precursors to development, adding that Nigeria cannot raise its head among other countries because of the widespread lack of peace and unity which has kept the country underdeveloped.
On his part, the Enugu state governor, Peter Mbah said that women deserve a place at the decision-making table and should be supported to participate actively in governance because of the critical role they play.
Mbah, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai, noted that it was also necessary to cascade such conversations down to local communities to ensure that the change and impact are widespread.
