Women journalists urge Nigerians to speak up against violence

The Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) in Benue State has stressed the need for Nigerians to speak out against violence on Women and Children.

Benue/Plateau Chroniclet reports that the association made the request at a one-day workshop it organised in Makurdi to mark the International Day of Non-Violence.

Chairperson of NAWOJ in the state, Ruth Biam, emphasised the need for people to break the conspiracy of silence often shrouding violence in the society for the benefits of victims.

Also speaking at the workshop, a programme analyst with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Benue state, Mrs Victoria Daaor, said a lot of women and children are going through violence and are afraid to speak out.

Daaor in a paper presentation entitled, “Psychological Effects of Violence on Women and Children,” said that lots of women were going through physical, sexual and psychological violence which often lead them to depression.

“For children, forcing them to go to boarding school against their wish, to read courses of no interest or engaging in trade leads to abnormal behaviours which includes drug abuse, cultism, uncaring attitude thereby creating a monster out of them,” she said.

The programme analyst further expressed fears that if nothing was done to nip it in the bud, Nigerians might be living in a barbaric society in the next 10 years just as she acknowledged that men also face violence.

Daaor added, “when you push your husband to register your child in a school he cannot afford, you are pushing him to his early grave and that is abuse.”

She therefore suggested improvement in the educational system as a way forward, adding that men should also be co-opted as champions in the fight against violence on women and children.

A guest speaker who is Executive Secretary of Benue State Teaching Service Board (TSB), Prof.Wilfred Uji, suggested that Nigeria should go back to the drawing board and redefine Nigeria through restructuring of educational sector for practical purposes.

Uji said the magnitude of violence that has pervaded the country remained a sad reminder that certain government institutions which are supposed to ensure checks and balances are not doing enough to provide the material wellbeing for the generality of Nigerians.