Prof. (Mrs) Stella Attoe-Oyedokun, an academic with specialisation in History and International Studies is indeed a woman of many parts.She is a lecturer in the University of Calabar, the Chairman, Board of Directors, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and the Executive Director of the Cente for Gender Empowerment (CEGEMP), a non government organistion, which she established to empower women. In this interview with APPOLONIA ADEYEMI, Attoe-Oyedokun x-rays the deficiencies of the struggles to uplift women and proffers the way forward. Excerpt:What motivated you to into gender empowerment issues'As an academic, I sort of found myself swerving into women and gender activities. May be, first of all, I started these issues of getting involved in gender issues as a commissioner for Information and Culture in Cross Rivers State and in the Better Life Programme that was initiated by the former First Lady, Mrs Mariam Babangida. Although, I was the Commissioner for Information and Commissioner for Education, being the only female in the cabinet then, I always found myself working with the wife of the Governor, especially when it came to things related to Mrs Babangida's Better Life Programme. At times, the wife of the Cross Rivers State governor would send me to represent her. That was how I got involved.Then, after my university education, I went back to the university of Calabar and I started writing on women and doing research on women. From there, I swerved into gender issues as a broader aspect of women's studies. I did a lot of research on women and gender issues.The non-government organisation, which I founded, the Cente for Gender Empowerment (CEGEMP) started as Gender Equity Action Planner in 1997. I was still lecturing in the university when I left the commissionership post.As I was lecturing, may be because of my intense research and interest, which was now swerving towards gender and women studies, some lecturers came to me and said some people came from the United Kindom (UK) and need someone to do a research on NGO studies concerning gender. That NGO called Abantu For Development, commissioned me and I did the research, NGO Study and The Role of NGO Policy Engagement. From there, I discovered that I kept writing and the former Head of State, President Olusegun Obasanjo later invited me to do a biography of the foremost woman politician in Nigeria, Chief Margaret Ekpo.I wrote a very fantastic biography, which was published by Obasanjo's outfit called the African Leadership Forum. I found myself doing a lot of research activity on women and gender. That is where I am today, though, I have not left my other area of specialisation.From your experience, can you assess how the issues of gender in this country has faired'I will say that we have not faired better. We are still struggling because I know what President Goodluck Jonathan has done, for instance, in terms of politics. When you talk about gender, people tend to look at the political aspect only, but it is a wide range of issues. When you are looking at gender, you look at the role of gender in the economy, in the social life, in politics and in all aspects of development, but we tend to look at it more from the political perspective only.I have heard a lot of people say the gender issue is getting better in Nigeria because President Jonathan has appointed more women in government. That is just an aspect - the political aspect. We still have problems in the economic aspect. We still have problems in the Financial Sector. We still have problems in the social aspect. So, it is a wide range of issues.In terms of economy, you cannot say that women are even at the middle level in terms of economic development in this country.Also, a large percentage of the farmers are women. Yes, they are there as farmers, but how easy is it for these women to access facilities that will enhance their farming activities and enhance their lives'Now, the local woman farmer wants to enhance her yields, but does she know how to go about it' Does she know how to approach the bank for facilities' Even where she approaches the bank, may be to enhance her farming activities or to enhance her trading activities, may be her crafish or yam trade, the bank might ask her for one or two things to present as collateral and she might not be able to present that. There is a whole range of problems. So, we need to look at issues deep down. Look at the root. How do we help these women' How do we help the rural woman to enhance her farming activities' How do we help even the urban woman to enhance her trading activities in the market' So, there are a whole range of issues. We have to look at areas where these women can be taught how to access certain basic facilities to be able to do a productive exercise, which in most advanced countries are considered simple, but here, they are not simple.So, the issue should not be that we have more women farmers. We should be asking: What is their output' Yes, they keep producing tomatoes and garden eggs every year. What is the impact of these exercise on their lives and that of their children' Some of them produce all these things, but cannot send their children to school. They are not making much. So, there are so many little things that we overlook, which should be looked into and these are things that should be done to encourage these women.What can be done to give these women the right information they need to advance themselves'You have said it all ' information. That is why I have problems with some of these government outfits. What some of these women need is information on farming techniques, how to access little basic facilities, etc. Even the Ministry of Agriculture is supposed to have an Inspectorate Division that would go out and reach out, not just to the women, but even the men who also need these facilities. You have the Ministry of Agriculture and they have the Inspectorate Division, but are these Inspectorate Divisions really going out to do inspectorate work' This are why NGOs are now coming out. Most of these works are now being done by NGOs that are not paid anything. Most NGOs are doing it out of their own free will.What are the challenges that the NGOs are facing in doing these work'There are so many challenges. You need finance to keep an NGO going. All that we are doing today, Sensitisation Workshop tagged, Faith Action and Affirmative Action is from our own purse. For example, there is a medical doctor who is going to examine the eyes of 30 people in this workshop and we are paying for the service. We are going to give out glass frames to assist the beneficiaries of the eye screening. Most NGOs in this country are self-financed. It is just something that they are doing out of their own free will. It is a voluntary work.What necessitated this workshop in Oshogbo'The workshop is necessary because it is our way of telling the people of Osun State that we (CEGEMP) are here in Osun State and that we are now operating here. How long has CEGEMP been operating in Osun State'For one year now, but we have been doing things quietly. Today, we want to tell them that we are into gender empowerment. Under gender empowerment, we are into political empowerment and other forms of empowerment. We are not saying that we are going to turn people into gold. We are saying we are going to do our best in terms of really going to the grassroots to educate women on certain aspects of life that would help them to develop in the Education Sector, the Social Sector, in the Economy, in Health and even in Political Issues. We are going to be involved in a lot of advocacy work.Where do you expect CEGEMP to be in 10 years time, especially regarding its impact on women'I believe that the NGO would have impacted tremendously on the lives of many women in Nigeria. That is why I said CEGEMP has started with only two zones basically, the south west zone with Oshogbo as headquarters and the south south zone with Calabar in Cross Rivers State as headquarters as well as in Abuja, but I believe that in the near future, we will have the NGO established in other zones. Not just established, but impacting on the lives of women particularly.What is the way forward for the empowerment of women'Women should take education seriously. Mothers and fathers should encourage the education of the girl child. I hear even up till today that some families want to put the girls aside and put the boys forward. No! Encourage both the girl and the boy. That is what gender is all about. Do not encourage only the boy and leave the girl. So, education is a big factor. Like I said in my speech earlier, education is the bedrock for all forms of development because when you are educated, as you are coming out from that educational cocoon, you will be able to understand and identify what you want, even in terms of economy. In terms of politics, you will be able to know what to do. So, it is very important to be educated.
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