Women’s untimely deaths caused by economic marginalisation – Aregbesola

Wife of the Osun State Governor, Mrs.
Sherifat Aregbesola, has said that at the
root of violence against women and
untimely death among them is economic
marginalisation.
The governor’s wife said this in Osogbo,
the Osun State capital, according to a
statement on Sunday.
She spoke at the graduation ceremony of
1,500 women who were trained in a skill
acquisition programme. She stressed that
unless poverty was effectively tackled, the
negative practices against women and
girls would continue.
According to her, Osun State is waging
war against economic marginalisation
among women and women trafficking by
fighting poverty through empowerment
programmes.
She said, “Poverty in Nigeria has peculiar
characteristics unlike what obtains in
other climes. In Nigeria, there is what can
aptly be describes as feminisation of
poverty; the poverty here has a woman
face with more than 70 per cent women
living below poverty line. This condition
has predisposed women to economic
hardship, social marginalisation, untimely
death, violence and diseases, among
others.
“Poverty has also heightened the girl-child
abuse through practices like child labour,
child marriage and trafficking of girls for
sexual trade in and outside the country.
But Osun State is tackling these
uncomplimentary practices by liberating
our women from poverty by equipping
them with necessary skills to make them
economically relevant.”
Aregbesola said that Nigeria might not
attain the Millennium Development Goals
except the nation taps into the resources
available in the womenfolk.
The Osun State Commissioner for Women
and Children Affairs, Mrs. Mofolake
Adegboyega, lauded women in the state
for being industrious, saying that they
turned out in large number for the skill
acquisition programme.