 డ్నీల్కలు మరతివ్విలెన్న్నాౚటిన్నకానాకుంటరెగాణిచిట్నడినాయంధె rather than biological ones. With the gender inequality movement, gender is normally spoken of in that context. Subconsciously, we only think about the word referencing women. It has been a long road to get to this point where women are being treated slightly better and not discriminated against based on their gender. While a lot more work begs to be done, another inequality is looming. A couple of days ago, while at lunch with a colleague, a person passed by wearing a t-shirt with the inscription that referred to the well-being of mother and child. In a burst of emotion, he asked, everything is about women and children who is looking after the welfare of men. Initially, I found him incredulous and dismissed him. I pointed out that the world system is generally the construct of men and his gender benefits largely from it to the detriment of women. He said quietly, all day long, I'm on the streets, hustling to make sure that the women and children in my house are provided for and safe. No one cares to ask me how I'm feeling. He argued that men take part in numbing activities which are harmful to them and even though they know that it is harmful, they indulge in it to keep themselves sane. I wasn't convinced about his argument, but he made a good one. We have a generation of empowered, independent, educated women who are a handful for men. The men are not being equipped to interact successfully with the new-improved women. With most brought up with the old-time training and others having their masculinity diminished and emphasis being placed on them to keep in touch with their feminine side while finding all forms of expression is the man first becoming an indigent species? There is so much focus on the female that we are engaging outside lining, emasculating and diminishing the man. The point is, while it is necessary to correct the wrongs that a male-dominated world inflicted on the female, we are engaging of turning the tables leading to a female-denominated world and men who don't know how to handle this new state of affairs. We need two things to become front and center alongside the movement. Human equality and balance. I cannot emphasize the need for deliberate training of the boy-child that while he maintains his masculinity, he expresses it with the awareness of his female compatriots and that they are first human beings. The female recognizes her newfound expression of being, but in a human equal world, she cannot cry wolf and is expected to show that her responsibility squarely without relying on her gender as a means to an end. Wow, this is... So, this is my interest. Anyway, comfort, personally, I tell people I am a male feminist and then let me say this. Feminism, gender equality is not... People see it from the perspective of gender, everything is talk about women. Gender equality is about the equality of both sexes. That's what it's supposed to be. That's what it is. But people actually flip it and it's a woman thing. That's what it's supposed to be. But we're no longer applying it in that way. Not me. Anyway, let me exempt myself because I'm conscious about that. The sexes should be equal. You use the principle of equity to achieve equality. Now I want to give you some little weeks and which kind of day I want you to respond specifically. I was in a vehicle traveling somewhere during the 2019 election, two women were contesting for presidents before they actually stepped down. And the men were having conversations. Why will a woman want to become president? I was surprised. What if she becomes pregnant? That is one. Number two, I had the opportunity of interacting with a family friend. Who has only daughters? One of the daughters wanted to study law. She discouraged the daughter for reading law. Why? Because she said that that profession is too risky for a woman. And maybe you'll study it if your husband permits you to walk, you can walk. Why would you trade your child to build a life around a man, a girl? Number three, I can go on and on and on. But number three is why we try to build the woman, just like what she said. We are empowering them with the necessary skills to contribute to the world development as human they are. We are not empowering the boy child or the man with the right mindset to deal with the women. There was a situation of a man saying that his wife would not go for a master's degree because it diminishes his masculinity. How can that be? So, I need that for you to respond, Mr. Kawani. Well, when it comes to gender balance, I always say one thing that I have made part of so many or not so many, one or two associations where you fight for women empowerment and stuff. The Kofian Institute of Kofian and Peacekeeping Institute, the Women Peace and Security Institute, the ANGLE. I'm a member of the Convocations Network in Accra, Ghana and a couple of others like that. But you see, the truth I always say is this, that while we're doing all this work for women, let us make sure that we we're very specific and intentional with the words we use. A lot of times we muddle things up. A lot of times we just confuse the entire sphere. And I would even like to extend it beyond the rhetoric of male and female. Now, because of the approach we have to this, that is why it's breaking down the fabric of the society to the extent that we are we are giving too much laxity to the gender. Just last week, the US approved the first passports for a third gender, which is X was issued. It's because of all this thing for no everybody is selfless. If we want to fight for women, which I dare say way back when it started, it was necessary because you find people like what he said the man said, I always tell people that there is no way I'll send my daughter to study medicine. Seven years. Then a man will say don't work. What are you talking about? So all the years she spent in university you know is for what? Just to prove that she has, it's not you. So, and all that comes to play, but we like right, like Comfort rightly said, there are so many things that are happening around gender that we're not correcting. We're giving so much power to the woman, which is not wrong. We need to enlighten the men rather than the women. We need to enlighten the men to let them know that women have the rights to do whatever they want to do in a society. But not to the extent that, for example, you say okay, there's one complexity that when it comes to gender, before I allow the law to come in, we say okay, we have the same rights. We all go to the market. We all go to the field. We all do things equally, which is right. But you see the approach we give to it makes it look like we are of the same strength. So now when you get to the market space and the man is also hustling with the woman, they say you are a man now, let her go. When we are communicating, we need to balance it that what we are saying is we have the same rights, but the approach and the strength and the physicality, some of these things are different, but for the rights to do, achieve what you are achieving, you're going to medical school. She has the right to go to medical school. She has the right to do this. She has the right to decide on, but the way we put it a lot of times make it look like when you say, she's the lady now, give her a chance. But it's equal, don't get balanced. Equity is also equal. Aha, and those are the things you don't specify. But personally, I make it intentional. When I speak, I say equality to opportunities, law, social justice. That is what it should be. Equity to achieve equality. So, yeah. I get equity over equality. I think I empathize with the man that comfort me about him being on the road hustling and nobody asking him how he's fairing. And they say, I empathize with that man. I have three younger brothers. And my dad and I empathize with them because I say how they go out to hustle. But the truth is, again, I'm going to speak on this part of the world because this is the part of the world I stay. Where we are. Gender equality is still so much beyond, we are still very behind on it, on the girl child having power and having until, you see, woman or girl child in positions of power. Which is already happening. Which is really happening. It is at the very slow pace. It is at the very slow pace. This is what I ask. Sorry, before you come in, before you continue there. This is what we say at the slow pace. I always say, in Nigeria today, I haven't seen any posts that women haven't as powerful except for precedency. And they haven't got that. And it's not because they are women. It's because the way our politics is even formed. Even the youth cannot have a space. Even so many qualified men cannot have a space. So it's not about gender per se. And that's why I need to factor. No, but it's not. But it's all about, let me just take my time. You go ahead and you see. So I'm saying, until we have women in key positions and giving opportunities to more women, that's when we come out and say like, should we stop with the old female, female, let's start including men. I'm okay like we including men. But the old gender and saying, let's fight for women, let's fight for girls. We still have to keep doing that. We still have to keep pushing that. And we look because we haven't opened. Let me tell you what we've done. We've spoken about it because the world, there was a time when there was me too and that really brought this in on this thing. And then in Nigeria, we piggybacked on that for media and this gender, you see organizations saying girls first and it's all surface level. It's not. It should be strategic. It should be strategic like there should be an impact. To a large extent I disagree. It should be an impact. You know what I disagree to a large extent. Even look at America today. When Hillary Clinton lost, one of the biggest comments that came was that a lot of the white folks, pure white Americans, were not ready for a female president. No, but hold on. Exactly. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. It should continue. I remember when Theresa May was still the prime minister of the UK, she made a statement. There was a woman celebration they were doing. I think well, International Women's Day of Star and she talked about how women were still lagging behind in the UK. So that's what I'm just going to bring that up. I'm just going to bring that up. It's not about it's not about it's global thing. However, when it comes to this women issue, I have, you see, we create a lot of room and we talk a lot about women. And that's why I say in our climate time, it's as if we, I'm saying with the women, at times we're confused because listen, you create, we talk so highly about women rights, which is needed, right? However, then you see the women themselves on the plane themselves. What do I mean? Let's take music videos for example. You know, women themselves now agree to go into nudity. Yeah, exactly. You get it. So, while you're saying women empowerment, I expect women to be saying no. I'm not just going to be like your sex slaves in the movie, you to put those are the things we like. I see places like where you talk, let's not respond, there isn't much I know. Let's not respond, let's not respond. Let's not take this off, we'll win out, I know. Let's not take you home then. Bringing this whole thing home, the point is that yes, we might not be where we need to be with the females, but we're not where we need to be with the males either, whether it's in terms of how they respond to the old time woman or even the new time woman. So, bottom line, human equality, we need to bring both of the genders you know, up to speed with what the realities are. So, up next is Felix, stay tuned.