Hajia Mopelola Abdulmalik-Bashir is the immediate past Commissioner for Women Affairs in Kwara State before her recent deployment to the Ministry of Water Resources. She tells TUNDE OYEKOLA the government has been deliberately gender-friendly
How would you describe your time as Commissioner for Women Affairs, Kwara State?
I resumed as the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Kwara State on January 17, 2022. And upon resumption, I set out to work within the mandate of the ministry, to ensure a paradigm shift in women affairs in Kwara State. I set out to work on creating a new template in line with global trends in women development. Aside this, I also had it as part of my mission in the Ministry of Women Affairs, the reworking of the ministry’s modus operandi with the non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations in order to ensure more inclusion for them in the ministry’s programme and activities.
Further to the above, as a Commissioner for Women Affairs of the state, I also set it as part of my agenda for the ministry to prioritise women empowerment through skills acquisition and vocational training.
I also had it as part of what I intend to do, the running of a ministry that would be a one-stop-shop for all women and girl-children-related activities.
So far, so good, looking at the vision and mission of the ministry and the policy thrust of the current government. In the space of one year in office, we have been able to do our best based on the mandate given to the ministry.
I participated as the Coordinator for Gender for Women Affairs of ‘Kwara Must Change’, a civil society organisation and I also participated in the public hearing that led to the signing of Gender Composition Law before my appointment as the Commissioner for Women Affairs. The Gender Composition Law is to open the political space in the area of appointment for women, which has now scaled up the level of representation of women in the political appointment to minimum of 35 per cent and maximum of 65 per cent. This implies that no government will come to this state and close the door that the current administration has opened for women.
As of toady, we have a ratio of 50 to 50 representation with men in the cabinet of the state. We have a 20-member cabinet with 10 women and 10 men. This is more than 35 per cent, which the affirmative action is calling for. This is to the benefit of the women.
Aside that, I set up a 15-member committee consisting of people from the academia, guidance and counsellors, psychologists and representatives of the popular skills to restructure the skills acquisition centre of the ministry. I met it comatose. We have now resuscitated it and last year 67 trainees graduated from the centre. That is what this government is doing to distribute social wealth.
What other programmes did you embark on in the ministry?
Apart from the ones earlier mentioned, I have been able to open a new template of engagement with civil society organisations. The usual practice was to lump everything together. We get a new template for all the over 100 CSOs, especially those that are active. Now our relationship with them has improved. That is why some donor agencies like the World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP and others are coming back to Kwara State and of recent, the Association for Reproductive Health was here to partner us on the issue of HIV/AIDS as it affects the women and children. They are starting their programme to know the number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS; they are now with us organising training for our people and assisting those who are suffering from the disease to live a worthy life; take their drugs and take care of their children.
What is your take on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s gender mainstreaming?
On gender mainstreaming, the interest of the state governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, is on improving women participation in the decision-making processes. We have been able to do that. As we all know, we have five female candidates seeking to get seats in the state House of Assembly in the forthcoming elections. That is the highest in Nigeria based on available record that I have access to. It was not easy, but the ministry had to reach out to stakeholders for the feat to be achieved. It will interest you that the current Chairman of the Committee for Women Affairs in the state House of Assembly is a man. I asked him the other time whether he had gone through the pains of childbearing, monthly call, lactation and breast-feeding, and all that. We have also been able to observe some international days recognised by the World Health Organisation.
What is the significance of some these international days?
For the day of the girl-child and the use of illicit drugs, we looked at our data at the ministry to know the areas that we have excessive drug abuse. Then we decided to go to Osi, Ekiti Local Government Area of the state. We also went to Offa because of the number of higher institutions that are domiciled there. In Kwara Central, we went to the Kwara State Polytechnic and Kwara State University, Malete for Kwara North Senatorial zone. Hitherto, the ministry did not have reliable and accurate data.
We are celebrating the girl-child to call the attention of society to the pains the girl-child undergoes daily. On child trafficking, normally we collaborate with NAPTIP. We realised that Kwara State is the transit and recruitment centre for child trafficking. It is commonplace in Kwara North and Central; the rate of child trafficking in the state as per available report is one of the highest in the South-West. It is the lowest in the North. Because the state stands as the recruitment space and the exit point, the attention has now shifted here. The state now has its NAPTIP office, courtesy of the governor, unlike before that we had to go to Osun State.
Kwara State now has a law against sexual and gender-based violence. What has been your ministry’s experience since the law became operational?
Sexual and gender-based violence is one of the focuses of this ministry. Thank God the wife of the governor, Ambassador Olufolake AbdulRazaq, has taken that as her pet project. On that, we have been able to go all out to get Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law signed. Of note is my involvement in the major activities leading to the commencement of the process of amending the Kwara State Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law. Because of all this, some non-governmental organisations are coming in to partner us. It is now a crime for anyone to abuse his children, wife, husband or abandon his family, etc. The issue of sexual and gender-based violence is complex. There are penalties for any man to abandon his family. It ranges between N500,000 and N1m. The law was signed in 2020 and our partners have simplified it for us in Yoruba and English. The ministry has benefited from the recently signed gender composition law. That is why the ministry now has its gender equity unit. The unit will be handling issues of interest relating to the women and the girl-children.
Furthermore, as the Commissioner for Women Affairs, I also facilitated and fast-track the signing of the document on United Nations Status on Peace, Women and Security that had been inactive since 2017.
Another major achievement of my tenure in the Ministry of Women Affairs is my facilitating the processes leading to the establishment of the First Kwara State Sexual Assault Referral Centre at the Kwara State General Hospital, Ilorin, named after the First Lady of Kwara State.
We have been empowering our people, especially women. During my tenure and not too long ago, we distributed gas cylinders to people, devoid of any political considerations. Beneficiaries of the empowerment programme, numbering about 4,100, were artisans, interest groups, International Federation of Women Lawyers, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, etc. The governor has done so well for this ministry. We spent millions to resuscitate it and we have not generated up to N500,000. Nigerian women are praying for the governor. They appreciated him and that is why awards have been pouring in for him. Because he is the champion of ‘He For She’. This will surely rub off on his chances at the 2023 governorship election, because Kwara women are appreciative. If I have a programme and pick my phone to invite the women groups by 6am tomorrow, all of them will be here across all party lines. Even the party has been complaining. Whatever we do, we spread it so that everybody can have access to it. Kwara women are not ingrates, they can see the difference. They can see that the governor has brought so many new things. He is bringing more. I know with what he has been able to do, right-thinking women will definitely put their thumbs where their hearts are. They will give their votes to that man that has done so much for them. To whom much is given much is expected. Definitely, the women are already coming to the party, you can see mass defections from other parties to APC because the governor has done much. The women are with him. When women are with you, God is with you.
