 Come to the advocate. Your panelists are here to discuss tropical issues in an atmosphere of laughter and seriousness. Here we call a speed a speed. Today the necessity for gender balance in all walks of life is on my mind. Raymond is here to talk to us about the elusive search for social justice in Nigeria. Live in the studio today is comfort and it's like a marriage counseling. We're here to let know. Kaede is saying that our country isn't as bad as we imagine, but worse than we think. And finally, our money is opening up our minds to a new world as it calls for parents to groom their male children right, especially in the cooking aspect. Sit back and after this break we'll be here to dissect it all. Stay with us. Deliberate gender balance in all facets of life. Let's talk gender balance. Achieving gender balance is an objective that must be defined, stated and activated in order to become an achievable goal. It is like breaking the chain of poverty by hard work and dedication. How can we achieve gender balance? Gender balance will not happen if we do not consciously and deliberately work towards achieving it. We must put laws, policies and mechanisms in place to make it a reality. What then is gender balance and why is it important? Gender balance, also known as gender equality, is a state of existence that provides equal access and opportunities as well as resources to both genders. Economic involvement and decision-making processes must be available to both male and females. According to UNICEF, gender equality means men and women, boys and girls, enjoy the same rights and resources. Gender balance must be discussed today because despite international laws and agreements supporting their human rights, women are still more likely than men to be illiterate and poor. The reason being they have less access to education and employment opportunities as well as decision-making processes. Providing access to women means that they can benefit from their world of knowledge and skills. There is empirical evidence that female-led countries handle the COVID-19 pandemic better. Women's imputes cannot be underestimated or ignored. The benefits of giving opportunities to them far outweighs any disadvantages. For the sake of our country, our development and our future, Nigeria and Nigerians must give women more opportunities to contribute to the center. When then should we give women these opportunities? Right now, in every meeting today, at least one woman must be present in every situation and in every decision-making process at home, in schools, in the workplace, at places of worship, in the legislative, in the judiciary and certainly in the executive. Contributions by women are needed in every facet of life. Hence, we must deliberately create avenues for their voices to be heard and their needs to be met as they make up to 50% of today's world's population. Gender equality is the fifth global sustainable development goal of United Nations. Thus, Nigeria's society must take deliberate steps to achieve gender balance. The government should enact laws to allocate at least 30% of all political offices and positions in the country to women. This is the case in Rwanda where 30% of its political offices are located to women. Today, women make up to 64% of its politicians. Now, the country continues to emerge as the new destination in contemporary Africa. This law must also compel corporate bodies to allocate a specific percentage of corporate board positions and opportunities to women. Educating children on gender balance is critical because they would align to the concept as they grow. Supporting women advocacy groups would further help this cause. Individuals must speak up when they notice gender imbalance. Sometimes, he happens unintentionally. Hence, we must continue to advocate until gender balance becomes a norm. Right? Comfort. Well, nice piece. I think for me, top on mind would be that we should advocate for human rights. I tend to have a problem, honestly, with breaking it down according to females and males. What is right is right for both genders. If it is access to education, it's a human right. If it's access to security, it's a human right. It's not a woman or a man thing. So what is good for the good for me should be good for the gander without breaking it down according to gender. Second point for me is the point where it says that there should be enactments. I think that would make us lazy. Women are not lazy. We can do this thing if we want to. The problem is that we're not ready to band together. The men band together all the time. There are women who are already in positions. How many other women have they carried along? How many women have they been able to mentor? How many women have they fought for, stood up for with women in key positions already for me that could be making me. I mean, there should become troublemakers when it comes to these things. Speak out, band together, bring us out. I think if that is done and they see how serious we are, we don't need government to give us 30%. Do you know how many women educated in this, how many women there are already that already have the, that are in business, incorporate Nigeria? We have them so that we don't have them. Even in the executive, we have them. We have ministers, we have people that are in the senator. But really, what are they using their currency to do for us without having us again going caping hand to say, man, please allocate 30% to us now. But do you realize that even in the corporate world, when they were required to employ more women to boards of the first 500 FTS companies, less than one percent compiles with that law, until the law was made mandatory? So if we continue to say that women can get there by themselves, it's going to forever be a mirage. And I find it unconfident to actually lay the blame at the feet of the women, because we cannot underestimate the statistics that we have. We really cannot. I'm not blaming the blame. Let me just clear up, please. I'm not blaming the blame, but I'm saying that there's a lot of opportunities and space for us to still do more. So if you become a critical, what you call a critical mass and a critical voice, somebody would have to listen to you without necessary, it could still be your law if you want. But the point here is that they say, these people are not here to joke anymore. They are here. I'm not laying it at them, for I'm just saying that we need to do a lot more, that there's still opportunity for us to do a lot more for ourselves. We have to take responsibility for what our future is. That's what I'm saying. But whether we like it or not, I believe that the women still need men for this advocacy. And being that for a long time, you've had men at the helm of affairs. Maybe some men don't even want their sisters and daughters to be here, but if you look at it in that way, you would also realize that a woman can do as well, maybe even better than a man in a lot of positions. They have, I believe that we have the same intellectual capacity. What just marks us differently might not be our physical strength. But I don't think that anything a man can do, that a woman can't excel in. I totally agree with what he said. Because we have dealt with a very patriarchal society for a very long time, which has put men in poor positions, where in leadership, where in business, across various sectors of human endeavor, women are actually running the show. So it's naturally difficult for them, even if they want to participate, it's naturally difficult for them to. So we have to, the place of men in driving that process cannot be over emphasized. And the case in point was what the current president of United States did. I keep making reference to that, but deliberately appointing Kamala Harris as his running mate. The first time, not the first time in the history of that, the so-called free world, where a woman would rise to that position. So I think there's a place for men in that process and also there's a place for women in the process in terms of organizing and knowing what they want and also properly advocating. So we have a minute to go. We go with her that it shouldn't be about the gender, the male or the female. It should be about giving to Cesar belongs to Cesar. The reason I'm coming to that is this. There are so many places where you have women that are qualified. For example, it will have been insane to give each another man, because she qualified. Do you know the obstacles she had to go through? Exactly. No, but you see, you know they had to delay it all up to the point that on our left government not on gender ground. Whatever we want, we all know Donald Trump and his famous antics. But okay, but you see the bottom line is when it comes to gender, I think it's gone beyond, we're seeing a lot of changes, but we need to do more by involving the men, like you said, and sensitizing the men. But where we can, we really have issues with gender in a part of the world, is in politics. And no matter the amount of sensitization, it wouldn't change anything. Why? Because you see, the structure of our politics is such that a woman might not be able to cope. That's why the youth cannot cope, because the structure is done in such a way that it must be of a particular caliber, a particular strength for you to make that impact. So you need to live your home, do night lives and all those stuff and a lot of money. Where do you get that? And like you said, we're not massing up enough for women. So gender, yes, but let's talk more about getting the right things done. Okay. But of course, for me, where the law becomes important is because without the law. Affirmative action. Yes. Affirmative action, well. Without the law, the men are not going to do anything or do many things. Well, certainly, the rule of law cannot be over emphasized, but I guess the conversation would always continue beyond this. All right. Raymond is next after this break. Stay tuned.