PMB Advised To Replace Women Ministry With Family Ministry

President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to replace the ministry of women affairs with the ministry of family affairs. 

The advice to the president was given by Major General Ishola Willimas (rtd) who stated that Buhari should adhere to his counsel if he is serious about addressing the root causes of violence and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast.

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Major General Ishola Willimas (rtd)

According to Vanguard, the retired military general made the remark at a media round table on issues relating to addressing the root causes of violence and IDPs in the Northeast region of Nigeria in Lagos

The event was organised by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in collaboration with the Ford Foundation and was chaired by Hon Justice Samuel C. Oseji of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.

The retired general said: “We need to urgently redefine politics and power and the linkage between the two with money. In addition, faith, beliefs and action require two-pronged approach: Counter narratives in terms of beliefs, and guidance and role models in terms of action without politics. It is also important to emphasize family (e.g. Ministry of family affairs instead of Women Affairs) with emphasis equally on girl-child and boy-child. We cannot continue to ignore the key role of boys and young men in perpetrating conflict.”

“We must transform the hands that kill, maim and destroy into hands that can save and rebuild. We must do away with all the jargons in terms of peace-keeping, peace-making, peace-building, conflict transformation, etc and come up with innovative sustainable framework for crises/conflict prevention and mitigation at local and national level. For Nigeria, continuous political restructuring with emphasis on subsidiarity is absolutely important.

“A new institutional arrangement is required at national and regional level for making life better for IDPs, Returnees, persons of concern and victims of terrorism. The bottom-line: get them back to their villages of origin and work Military and volunteers to rebuild their lives.”

Two months ago, General Williams, presently on the faculty of the Pan African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PASPRG), spoke to Naij.com’s correspondent in Abuja on the present Nigerian military fight against insurgency and President Buhari’s willingness to negotiate with Boko Haram.