Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto says the state government, in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, have spent N20 billion to construct and rehabilitate classrooms across the state in four years.
He disclosed this on Tuesday at the launch of the HeForShe programme under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and a coalition of international donors as well as international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) at Government House, Sokoto.
“This administration has prioritized the education of women through various strategies, one of which is the establishment of special girl schools across the state, especially for science and technology, while women entrepreneurship is being promoted through financial support and loans for small scale businesses at local government and state levels,” he said.
While emphasizing that “the inclusion of women in governance is ensured by our appointment of women into sensitive civil service and political positions of authority, to enable them bring their capabilities to bear in affairs of the state,” Tambuwal assured that his government will give attention to the issues of advocacy raised by the minister of women affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen.
These issues are: uplifting of the standard of the state Women Development Center, provision of a window for the ministry of women affairs in the state to get patronage from the internally generated revenue; as well as creation of women and children department at the local government level.
Others are: furnishing of model women development centers, refurbishing of a center at Wamakko and rehabilitation of the Maryam Abacha Vesico-Vaginal Fistula hospital in Sokoto.
In her remarks, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Tallen expressed satisfaction with many achievements of Gov. Tambuwal’s administration and drew attention to the news to domesticate laws that would check violence against women and children as “the rate of physical, psychological and emotional violence against women , girls and boys in the recent times is another major concern.”
She explained that “the HeForShe project is to crystallize a strategic shift by global development actors to put on increased focus on actions that brings men and boys side by side with women and girls, in order to break through the barriers preventing women and girls from achieving their full potentials and contributing to the development of our global community.”
