Kaduna first lady calls for unity among women

EL RUFAIS WIFE

Hadiza El Rufai

Hadiza El Rufai

Hajiya Hadiza El- Rufai, Wife, Kaduna State Governor, has called on African women to support and celebrate one another as a way of inspiring and empowering the girl child.

El-Rufai ‎ made the call on the sidelines of the 2018 African Writers Conference and Awards.

It has the theme :”Re-imagining African Literature : New Voices, New Narratives in the Fight for the Girl Child” ‎ in Abuja on Saturday.

The conference is organised by the African Writers Development Trust, an NGO that seeks to empower African Writers.

El-Rufai, who was the Chairperson of the event, added that ‎ African writers needed to change the narrative of the African girl child in their various works.

“African women, writers in particular and female journalists, we all have a role to play in making sure we blow the trumpet of women that have done good things in the society.

“In doing this, the girl child will have role models, people they can aspire to be like; they will see people that were once like them now in positions of power and authority and aspire to be like them.

“This recognition will also help parents and guardians, who did not want to invest in the girl child, to do so and no longer see it as a waste of time.

“These parents will have a change of mind by the time they see and hear about successful women; that is why we must celebrate women who have achieved in their various fields.”

Nahida Esmail, a writer from Tanzania, said African Writers must “blow the trumpet” of African women who succeeded in their various fields, as a way of inspiring the girl child.

Esmail, who has written 22 books, noted that many African women had not been recognised for achieving feats in their their various fields of endeavour.

“If we start blowing the trumpet of successful women that have not been recognised, and if all writers across Africa start doing this , we feel this will be the first step towards empowering the girl child. ‎

“The girls will get to have role models because these woman have been recognised; we need to speak for ourselves, African women must celebrate themselves. ‎

” For instance, if you know a Nigerian woman who is doing well and has not been recognised, we must go ahead to celebrate her, and the same for the rest of Africa.

She added that African Writers needed to tell stories that would influence the girl child positively.

According to her, Africa women need to tell stories they can relate to in a fun way that will influence girls to become influencers and gamechangers.

Mr Anthony Onugba, Executive Director, African Writers Development Trust, said the purpose of the conference was to create an African literary space.

“Currently we do not have an African Literary space,we have writers doing their own thing in their various countries.

”This is a platform to bring all of them together and network in a way to promote each others works. ‎

“We also want to write for a cause, write with a mindset, write about our own people, so our children can read stories about us and be inspired.

He said the idea behind the theme was to see how African Writers could change the narrative of the girl child.

“The western narrative such as the fairytales told our children does not spark any development.

”Alison in most African stories, the protagonists are often males. We want to see how we can put female protagonists so the girls can have a role model to look up to. ‎

“For example, shooting movies and writing stories of Queen Amina of Zaria or talking about her great exploits in schools will inspire the girl child, so let us change the narrative.”

There was a panel discussion on the theme which featured Esmail, Sandra Etubiebi, a Nigerian writer and Faith Mutheu from Kenya.

They agreed that African women must support and celebrate one another and that African stories must have a cause to redefine the girl child and cause a ripple effect to change their narrative.

The panellists also stressed the importance of educating the girl child, noting that educating them had helped to address many issues affecting them.

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