Every August 26th, women Equality day is being celebrated globally . The day was first initiated in 1920 by the then American president Woodrow Wilson.

The initiation of the day through the Americas legislation gave the women the right to vote. Before then, the American women do not have such right.
In this year’s celebration, Bende Analyst interviewed a woman of substance and Professor in mathematics based in America, Professor Nkechi Madonna Agwu.

Professor Agwu, says women deserve equally right with men in terms of social benefit, job opportunity etc.

She maintained that if people no matter their gender can do some things right, they deserve equal right.
When asked if such is applicable in Nigerian context based on the fact that the bill on “Gender and Equal Opportunity” which was before the National Assembly was not passed. When the bill came up on March 15th 2016 for second reading, the bill was killed, the reason given by the members of the Hallow Chamber that men and women are not equal citing the Bible and Quran injunctions

Responding, Professor Agwu stated that from day one, God created people to be able to do things, which may be in different forms pointing out that in the society woman should not be relegated just because she is a woman.

She called on the leaders to be sensitive to this issue of abuse on women. The Professor noted that the reason why the National Assembly threw out the bill on women’s right was because most of the legislators are men pointing out that when more women are voted into the National Assembly, such bill cannot be neglected. She says the use of Bible or Quran teaching as excuse for not giving women equal right is uncalled for.
She quoted the names of some women in the Bible who moved the work of God forward such as Esther, Debora, Rehab, Dorcas among others


She pointed out that in the Bible there are some things that wouldn’t have happened without the action of women. She cited the fall of the walls of Jericho which was done through the action of a woman called Rahab.
She indicated that if women are, able to do certain things which are right by the law and can do it better than the men, they deserve equal pay and opportunity to be able to do more.

Professor Agwu emphasized that if we look around, mostly in the nations where women have been given equal opportunity, those nations develop faster.
She stressed that although the equal right for women started in America, yet no woman has been the American President out of the 44 presidents the country has produced. However, she was optimistic that by next year, a woman will emerge as President in America.

On the benefit of equal right for women in the society, she stated that mothers impact good characters and moral values to children until they grow up after nurturing them for nine months before giving birth, thus, the society benefits through this.

Professor Agwu who is a mathematician with the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) USA, insists that if the women are given the opportunity to do things, it is not just the women that are being empowered but the entire household as some men take delight in marrying many wives with many girl friends leaving the women to raise children.

Giving an example, she stated that in an interaction with a banker, the banker said that why they went into micro finance banking specially made for women who are into small businesses was to empower the women as it is them that most times feed the family especially where men fail to perform their fatherly role.

Reacting to what should be done to stop all kinds of discriminations against women including rape, she said women’s rights including that of inheritance should be included in the school curriculum, so that as children are learning it will also be part of their studies. Further, the don emphasized that the national Assembly should ensure its implementation. In this regard, Professor Agwu maintained that there should be a law that will protect the rights of women.

The professor, indicated that through the type of work she is currently doing in USA, she is trying to come to Nigeria to address gender equality through science, technology and mathematics by developing a curriculum framed around motivation of women. This she said would help women to understand that they too can go into these professions and be successful.
She equally explains that another way to address the issue of discrimination is through town hall meetings, seminars and workshops from time to time to educate the people mostly the young boys to know that these abuses are wrong.

On her advice to women as they celebrate this special day, the mathematics professor called on women not to encourage their sons to abuse women or girl child
Professor Agwu was of the view that if mothers are not articulated, they will contribute to the abuse of women instead of empowering them as it is important for mothers to imbibe the attitude of caring for women or girl –child instead of abusing them.
She therefore stressed that women’s rights are human right and should not be neglected.

Interesting