Mothers should be vigilant to curtail rape cases – Fatima Ramalan Yero
Hajiya Fatima Ramalan Yero,
the first lady of Kaduna State, in this interview with journalists in Abuja, bares her mind on how she intends to empower women and youth in the state. She also speaks about what led her to construct modern toilets in primary schools, rampant rape cases, among other issues: excerpts:
Can you tell us about yourself?
I was born in the 80s .I attended primary school in the United Kingdom, I attended secondary school in Zaria, after which I went for National Certificate of Education,(NCE).
As the first lady of Kaduna State, do you have any project that has to do with women and children?
Yes, as any first lady would, I have a project in the pipeline aiming at improvement of the lives of women, youth and children.
What sort of project is it?
It is a project that encompasses a lot. For example it includes an aspect that has to do with the health of women and children such as maternal and infant mortality.
Many women and children die through these, so a lot need to be done. It is something I am very concerned about.
Women should be encouraged to attend ante natal clinics and take their children for immunisation.
There is also the empowerment of our youth to keep them from being idle, as a result of which they would be used as instruments of violence. It may also lead some of them into taking drugs, making them become useless to themselves and the society.
Besides, apart from keeping them from being idle, they would get a source of income and therefore become self reliant. It is better to engage our youth in doing something positive, as they are the leaders of tomorrow.
However, the project is a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) and has nothing to do with the government. It is just there to support the government’s effort to improve the lives of women, youth and children.
But even apart from the project I have trained women and youth on skill acquisition. I also have a radio programme, called ‘Hannu da Yawa’, which aims at knowing the problems of women and youth. Through this we would know how to tackle such problems.
The girl-child is someone who is vulnerable in many ways, what plans do you have specifically for her?
I have a lot of plans for the girl-child, especially on ICT for girls. I have a project that I will carry out insha Allah before the end of this year.
The percentage of girls that are out of school is high, there is a lot of gap between boys and girls, so I intend to focus on ICT for girls and see how it goes.
The girl-child needs to be educated and empowered. In the world today, we can’t afford to have uneducated women. If women are educated, they are in a better position to look after their children and even help them with their homework.
They can also contribute to the development of the society by using their education.
Widows are people that the society tends to neglect, leaving