The Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development has just got its first wheelchair-accessibility ramp, 34 years after its establishment.
The Director-General of the centre, Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, a doctorate holder, disclosed this on Friday when the Nigeria Union of Journalists FCT Council paid a courtesy visit to the center, announcing activities to mark its 34 years anniversary in Abuja.
Benjamins-Laniyi said the centre, established by late First Lady Maryam Babangida, had operated without access for women on wheelchairs until now.
According to her, the ramp was built by Julius Berger at no cost to government as Corporate Social Responsibility.
The DG said the intervention followed an accessibility audit conducted in collaboration with the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
She explained that on assumption of office on June 1, she refused to occupy the DG’s office upstairs until women with disabilities could access it.
She said the decision was informed by an experience in August when a board member with disability, Lois Auta, had to be lifted by five men to attend a meeting upstairs.
The DG said Auta, for the first time on Wednesday, wheeled into the building with dignity without assistance.
She said the centre would also redesign its auditorium ramp which had caused accidents due to improper construction.
Benjamins-Laniyi said the centre was also mainstreaming disability inclusion beyond physical infrastructure.
She said a visually impaired staff who joined the centre 29 years ago at the most junior level in the ICT department would now head a directorate.
She noted that the centre was upgrading its enabling technology and rolling out new empowerment packages, research, artificial intelligence and ICT programmes through its six zonal offices.
She listed its partners to include the High Commission of India and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The DG said the centre was collaborating with the National Gallery of Art to unveil the “First 66”, a public portal where Nigerians would choose 65 living women icons.
She said First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, who recently marked her 66th birthday, would be listed as number one on the portal.
Benjamins-Laniyi urged women to embrace solidarity, coining a charge, “She for She”, to counter the narrative that women do not support women.
She advised women who had contested elections to remain focused, noting that contesting for position was a step towards positioning other women.
She said the centre was being repositioned as the front office of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in line with the Women O’Clock declaration of the Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim
Earlier Chairman of the NUJ FCT Council Comrade Grace Ike Congratulated the Director General General, Dr Benjamins – Laniyi as on her well-deserved appointment as the 16th Director-General of this national institution.
Ike also congratulated the Centre as it marks its 34th anniversary.
Comrade Ike equally recognized the important role of the Centre in promoting women’s welfare, empowerment and advancement and lauded Dr Laniyi’s push for women inclusion and advancement
“ We believe that stronger collaboration between our institutions will help bring these efforts closer to the public, deepen awareness and generate greater support for policies and programmes that improve the lives of women and girls.” She added