At a Conference of Commissioners of State Ministries of Women Affairs in Abuja, Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, delivered a striking message, urging women to maintain silence during arguments with their husbands to prevent potential violence.
Kennedy-Ohaneye emphasized the importance of avoiding verbal confrontations, stating that it could escalate to physical assaults resulting in severe injuries or even death.
“Keep your mouth shut. Talking back does not yield fruit, rather it leads to death and destruction, it leads to bringing up bad children for society,” she asserted.
Continuing, the minister said, “Keep your mouth shut, it does not make you a fool but a wise person. When the man is shouting and saying all sorts of things, act like a fool and keep your mouth shut.
“After a while, watch him. If he is a good man, he will come back to apologise. If he is not a good one, ignore him. Have what you want to do in your mind, but when we show who we are and we fight back, most times, it leads to hitting; you could be injured.
“The same man that injures you will come back to say I am sorry. What will you do? Will you kill him? Even if we come out to fight for you and you lose one eye, are we going to replace the eye? So prevention is better than cure.”
Kennedy-Ohaneye advocated for the enactment of laws to establish mobile courts for gender and sexual-based offenses. She pledged to lead a protest to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation to expedite the signing of such legislation.
The minister also announced plans to launch an integrity group tasked with overseeing the proper utilization of funds allocated for women’s empowerment.
She expressed concern over the misuse of donor funds and emphasized the need for transparency in uplifting women across the country.
