Discrimination Must be Criminalized

My personal vision for my life is to be empowered so that I can impact positively on the lives of others. I want to see a society where women are empowered, where women can be financially independent and can equally participate in politics. To see women having enabling environment to actualize their God given potentials without any form of discrimination.

I want to see women earning and deciding on how they can spend their hard-earned money from their sweated labour without anyone taking decisions on how to spend the money for them.

As I have experienced this form of subjugation. I am a graduate who went to school against all odds. Despite my humble background, I remained focused and was determined to achieve my dream of studying Mass Communication and becoming a Mass Communicator.

So that I would be able to contribute my quota to the development of my country, not be a burden to others. As well as earning money to support my family, both family of orientation and procreation and others.

As the only female child on my mother side from a polygamous family, my parents especially my immediate senior brother who really value education was very supportive and ensured that he financed my education from his meager earning as a Teacher.

After university education, I married a man who is also supportive in ensuring that I work to earn money but unfortunately he does not subscribe to the fact I should further my education beyond the first degree, without giving me any tangible reason for taking that decision. Anytime I tried to discuss the issue with him we end up with a heated and unresolved argument.

The frustrating aspect is that I must not acquire a landed property. My fellow sisters please why the hell am I working if I cannot take a decision on what to do with my hard earned money? Will I continue like this? Because I sometimes see my aim of going to school, being defeated.

But I have made up mind that these issues would not deter me from making my dream become a reality.
For my community and globally I want to see a community where women can actively participate in politics and must be represented in decisions that directly affect their lives as members of the community. So that our leaders would not be paying lip service to improving the standard of living and children, Women must fill up their quota on merit or equity.

The Gender Affirmative Action must be implemented to the letter, women must be represented in all sector. women voices must be heard, nobody else should speak for them, because “she who wears the shoes, they say knows where it pinches”.

Discrimination against women and all forms of violence against women must be stopped; the perpetrator of the violence act must be brought to book. All harmful traditional practices that are harmful and injurious to women’s health must be criminalized.

I want to be a Correspondent because I want to speak out for change, and to do so I would require technical skills and capacity enhancement support from experts. I know that if I emerge as one of the Correspondents I would have an opportunity to be trained by seasoned Mentors.

This training for me is very crucial in strengthening my skill to discharge my duties as a change agent. It will help me to achieve my vision in the sense that the skills I will acquire from the training would be channeled towards making a change within me and my community at large, to amplify women voices, their plights and successes that are underreported in the media.

I will be able to network with others better than I used and through this networking and partnerships we would be able to change our COMMUNITIES.