Ladi Bantex, wife of Kaduna Deputy Governor, has embarked on a peace building campaign aimed at mobilising women to be proactive in tackling hate speeches and other security challenges.
Bantex, who flagged off the campaign in Manchok, Kaura Local Government, on Friday, told the News Agency of Nigeria that women were being enlightened to identify hate speeches and other negative tendencies that could lead to a breach of the peace.
She said that women were being targeted for the campaign because they were always at the receiving end of every crisis.
She said: “The campaign is designed to enlighten women on the need for unity and peaceful coexistence, irrespective of religious, ethnicity or political differences.
“It became necessary in view of divisive narratives and hate speeches leading to security challenges, especially in the southern part of the state.”
She said that the hate speeches had led to mutual distrust and suspicion among the people, which had further compounded the protracted security challenge in the state.
Bantex promised to take the campaign to the 23 local government areas in Kaduna, adding that she had contacted women leaders and other relevant stakeholders and briefed them on the need for women to be more active in the search for peace.
She said: “We want our women to be aware of the negative consequences of violence so that they will resist it. We want women leaders and wives of leaders to be more committed to peace initiatives.
“Our targets are leaders of women associations in Churches, Mosques, NGOs and tribal groups; we want to be on the same page, peace, peace and peace.”
Earlier in her address to the women, Bantex had cautioned them against being taken in by propaganda and hate speech spewed around by people out to cause confusion in the state.
According to her, such propaganda is destroying common values and breeding suspicion among people that have coexisted peacefully for decades.
Bantex advised religious leaders against surrendering worship centres for political propaganda, saying that such Holy places should rather be used to worship God and promote moral values.
She stressed: “The duty of religious leaders is to preach peace, love, compassion, humility, unity and bring people closer to God.
“Nobody should be allowed to hijack our worship centres for propaganda and hate speech.”
Also speaking, Hajia Hafsat Baba, Commissioner, Women Affairs and Social Development, stressed the importance of peaceful coexistence, and called on women to work toward achieving it.
Baba also advised women to pay attention to farming so as to be self-sufficient and improve their family’s economic fortunes.
She also challenged women to instill good values in their children and strive to protect them from any form of exploitation and abuse.
Kaura Local Government Administrator, Zitung Agog, in his speech, commended the women for their contributions to social, economic and political development in the area.