“Building the nation in a very significant way is my utmost priority. This I intend doing by creating an enabling environment for our women and girls to fit into the society through learning of skills and trades so as to be self-reliant in the society”. This was stated by Hon. Asmau Gogo Kabir; Special Adviser to Kogi State Governor on Women Affairs. She stated this on Tuesday 23rd of August 2022 when she led a delegation of notable women from various organizations and NGOs in Kogi State on a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI).
Addressing the management team of NBRRI on the purpose of the visit, Hon. Asmau appreciated the Director-General/CEO of NBRRI for the open hand he used in accepting their request for the visit. She explained that the women of Kogi State and all women in Nigeria are been pushed to the back bench when it comes to craft and artisanal works.
She also explained that the brain behind her motivation to see women trained in various skills of craftmanship and recognized as artisans in the country is as a result of the fact that most of the tough labourers’ work like carrying of cements and sands in the construction sites are done by the women and yet they are not given the appropriate place to be independent craftswomen that they deserve. She stated that her prayer is to see women been independent by working as skilled labourers and earning money to support their husbands and families in providing basic needs for the home.
She went further to state the major reasons for their visit to NBRRI which she emphasized as collaboration in areas of training of Kogi women to be skilled artisans, provision of NBRRI compressed earth block making machine and training the women on how to operate the machine.
Responding and welcoming the visitors, the DG/CEO, Engr. Prof. Samson Duna appreciated the doggedness of Hon. Asmau and her team for putting humanity first and striving to see women taking a good place in the society for the betterment of the nation. He encouraged Hon. Asmau not to relent in her strive for building the nation via building the women. He went further to assure the SA of the commitment of NBRRI to collaborate with her office in area of training and capacity building.
To have a better working plan, Prof. Duna advised that a team comprising of members from the office of the SA and NBRRI staff to form a force and draw out the collaboration plan which will be an MoU for smooth working plan. He went further to state that due to the high cost of fabricating the NBRRI compressed earth block making machine, it will be difficult for NBRRI to donate the machine to them; but a plan can be worked on to achieve this by training the women on the various skills and operation of the machine and at the end of the training, the SA can influence the Hon. Minister of Women Affairs and the Governor of Kogi State to attend the graduation ceremony of the women artisans, which both top government functionaries can assist by donation the machine (s) and purchase other working tools needed by the women to operate with.