PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, formally launched the Growing Girls and Women in Nigeria initiative (G-WIN), designed to improve the lives of women and girls in the country.
Performing the ceremony in the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he assured of equal opportunity for women in the country.
The president explained the necessity to give more attention to the female folks, as they held the key to the economy and the well-being of the country at large.
He said any government that wanted to succeed must avoid discrimination against women and create opportunities for them to maximise their potentials.
The president regretted that the ratio of girls to boys enrollment in school was far too tilted in favour of boys in some parts of the country, saying that his administration was working hard to improve the situation.
According to him, “in some parts of the country, girls are taken care of; they are competing with their male counterparts at the primary, secondary and university levels and in some cases the school enrollment in some parts of the country show more girls than boys.”
“The ratio in other parts is still low. I want to make sure that every girl child in Nigeria has the unique opportunity to go to school.”
Also speaking on the occasion, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stressed the belief of the present administration in women.
She added: “We know that when you empower women, you empower a nation. Studies have shown that when a woman is enabled to earn income, she may invest 90 per cent in her family, while the man will invest 30 per cent.”