By Olubukola Olu-Ola
Ilorin – A legal practitioner, Mrs Folakemi Oluseyi has called on the Federal Government to empower women living in rural communities as a way of food sustenance.
Folakemi who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Wednesday, said that it was important for the government to encourage rural women in the area of agriculture by supporting and empowering them.
She said rural women played vital role in the society, particularly in economic and agricultural development, saying it would be a waste of human resource if they were abandoned without support of any kind.
The lawyer however, implored the federal government to launch a fundraising project to support rural women, adding that most of the women were suffering as a result of poverty.
“Rural women depend mostly on agriculture for their livelihood, the best th various governments can do for them is to support such effort.
“If you have visited some of the rural communities in the country, you will be amazed at the intensity of poverty and how these women are struggling to feed their families.
“Most of these women even suffer violence, assault and harassment and molestation because they cannot fend for themselves.
“They need to be empowered to stand against some barbaric cultures and suffering inflicted on them by the society,”
He explained that the rural women have a right to live free of oppression and to be economically productive, they should not be neglected to live in penury.
“I will want that government should launch a fundraising project to empower rural women and encourage farming in the rural communities”, Folakemi said.
She expressed dissatisfaction at the level of government’s attention to the urban areas, while less or no attention was given to the rural communities.
She therefore, urged government at all levels to give special care and attention to rural women, adding that they were vital in the development of Nigeria.
