By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Dr RamatuTijjaniAliyu, has reached out to the wives of traditional rulers in Abuja, the nation’s capital on the need to tackle the continued youth unrest.
She said the wives have a central role in redirecting the mind-set of the youths especially during clash of interest.
The minister during an advocacy forum organised for wives of FCT graded monarchs, said in every crisis situations, women usually stand tall to reclaim the soul of that nation and actively pushed parties back to the inevitable negotiation tables or forced third-parties to bring the conflicts to an end.
Aliyu also expressed concern over women’s work in community building and conflict resolution, which often goes unnoticed and unacknowledged, saying that classical examples of women’s efforts towards peace-building during conflicts or wars are endless.
She told the wives of traditional rulers that as mothers they need not to forget in a hurry about major wars that start with civil unrest resulting from poorly-managed social discontent, noting that as Nigerians witnessed recently with the #Endsars protests, if not properly managed, widespread social discontent, whatever may be its motivation, could easily snowball into large scale desecration of law and order .
A statement on Sunday by Austine Elemue, special assistant on media to the minister, said that as part of measures to tackle youth restiveness, President Muhammadu Buhari, in his wisdom had instructed that all cabinet ministers should do everything possible within their reach to promote peaceful co-existence in local communities because civil unrest or war can strip a whole society of its humanity.
Chairperson FCT Traditional Rulers’ Wives Association, Hajiya Hauwa Kulu Adamu, stated that since the creation of the association in 2019, the forum has undertaken tremendous activities aimed at creating impact on the vulnerable women and youths in the territory.
She pledged the preparedness of the association to work harmoniously with the office of the State Minister aimed at uplifting the lives of the vulnerable residents in the nation’s capital.
