Skip to main content

Ex-U.S. Ambassador Carrington urges Nigerian govt to address women marginalisation, poverty

waltercarrington1
A former United States ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, on Monday said Nigeria needs to address the marginalisation of women and the poor to attain sustainable development.
Mr. Carrington made this known in Victoria Island, Lagos, while delivering a lecture at the launch of ‘Defend the Defenseless’, a book written by his wife, Arese Carrington.
The lecture, titled “Nigeria and Africa in a changing world”, was put together by the Lagos State Government.
The former diplomat served as U.S. ambassador to Nigeria between 1993 and 1997 under the regime of the late dictator, Sani Abacha.
He is reputed to be a fearless diplomat who spoke against the government’s tyranny, even in the face of threats and intimidation, including assassination attempts.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Carrington said while autocracy in every aspect of the nation’s public system must be replaced with democracy, the issues of poverty and patriarchy must be effectively tackled to facilitate growth and development.
He lamented the poor representation of women in the nation’s governance system, saying a nation that ignores the productive capacity of half its population cannot thrive.
He also spoke on youth empowerment.
“We must also give more hope to the youth population,” the former diplomat said, adding that “the youth should have a say in the formulation of policies that affect them.”
Mr. Carrington lamented the fact that foreign media often cover Africa to report its calamities, saying the continent is still seen as a continent of the poor while parts of the world still regard ’54 African nations as one country.’
He, however, added that Nigeria must get it right because of its potential, adding that the nation’s prosperity will go a long way in correcting the stereotypical representation of Africa in foreign media.
Making reference to the United Nation’s (2017) Economic Report and PriceWatersCoopers’ report on the growth potential of the nation, the former diplomat said he was optimistic about the success of Nigeria.
He, also, added that the nation must also focus on inclusive development that address and capture the concerns of every strata of the Nigerian society, saying growth may not ordinarily translate to development, especially at the grassroots.
The book launch/public lecture was attended by Lagos State’ Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello; Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka; business magnate, Fola Adeola; Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akinolu, among others.
In her address, author of the book, Mrs. (Arese) Carrington, called on all humans to defend the defenceless, adding that the advocacy for gender equality must also be sustained.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

My quest for change made me team up with Buhari — Amaechi

The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says that his pursuit for change made him to leave his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). Amaechi made the disclosure at the Future Awards Africa held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos last Saturday. He said that he would have done otherwise by staying in PDP and fight for the change, instead, there was a need to cross over to APC because of his belief in President Muhammadu Buhari. “I moved from PDP to APC because I am tired of what is happening in the party, I have the option to stay because of my position as the Chairman of the Governors then. “I can use my position to fight them (PDP) and get what I want because I believe Nigeria was not going in the right direction by then. “My attention and belief shifted to Buhari which was the viable alternative, I believe in the change mantra because it is the only way to improve on what is on ground. “He has not...

My people are being killed on daily basis – Emir of Birnin-Gwari q

The Emir of Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna State, Malam Jibril Zubairu Mai-Gwari II has cried out that people are being killed in his Emirate on daily basis. He therefore asked the Federal Government to intensify efforts at getting rid of the bandits terrorizing the area. The Emir made the call at his palace on Tuesday evening while receiving the Minister of Interior, Lt. General AbdulRahman Danbazzau (rtd) and Deputy Inspector General of Police Operations, Habila Joshak who both visited Birnin Gwari. The Minister and DIG were is Birnin Gwari on assessment of the security situation of the area, where killings and kidnap of innocent citizens have become the order of the day. It would be recalled that, 11 soldiers on Operation ‘Ayem Akpatuma’ were killed in the area two weeks ago, while nine persons, including a bride were kidnapped last Sunday after killing of two persons. Speaking on the situation, the Emir said, armed bandits terrorizing his domain hibernate in Zamfara and come t...

Man bags 14 years imprisonment for raping 13-year-old IDP

A middle aged man, Yahaya Umar was yesterday sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by a Borno State High Court for raping a 13-year-old Hajja Ibrahim, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP). According to the charge read by the clerk of the court, the convict, Yahaya Umar lured the victim from Abaganaram IDPs camp in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to one Rainbow Hotel in same Maiduguri city and had forceful sexual intercourse with her. The charge reads, “That you Yahaya Umar (male), on or about 21st September 2016 at about 1900 hours at railway quarters Maiduguri , within the jurisdiction of this honourable court committed rape on one Hajja Ibrahim of IDPs camp Abaganaram primary school , in that you forcefully had sexual intercourse with her and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 283 of the penal code laws of Borno State.” In order to prove its case, the prosecution brought five witnesses to testify and some exhibits were tendered in evidence. Coun...