The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari on Thursday asked women to join efforts at all levels towards finding a lasting solution to the numerous security challenges confronting the country.
Buhari spoke as the special guest of honour at the opening of a two-day conference organized by the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA).
The theme of the conference was “The role of Defence and Police Officers’ Wives in National Defence, Peace and Way Forward.’’
It was organized in collaboration with the Nigeria Defence Academy – NDA’s Research Monitoring and Coordination Office (RMCO).
Buhari, who was represented by the wife of the Acting President, Dolapo Osinbajo said: “Women are known as the ones that are able to encourage and gently assist.
“I like us as women to encourage the men in unity and love.
“Speak to them the way our mothers speak to us, let’s dialogue, let’s talk about it, let’s find a middle ground, let’s agree so that we won’t have war (crises).’’
The wife of the president described wives of military personnel, especially members of the DEPOWA as great women.
“Women who are wives of officers are great women. They are great women, only a great man can sign up for a job that may take his life.
“A man that faces life and death every day; face with sorrow, faced with solitary life, sees the worst of human beings, only a great woman can be married to such a man.
“I know that the women of DEPOWA are great. They are the ones that handle the nightmare that the men have, they are the ones that handle the anger of the men.
“Their frustrations, fear, their pains of separation from colleagues,’’ she said and called for assistance for the organization.
“I want to encourage that those that help those who help us also need help.
“The better and quality of help that officers and men of the armed forces and police have, the better they can defend the nation.’’
Earlier, the DEPOWA President and wife of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Omobolanle Olanisakin, appealed to their husbands to grant the association to use August 16, yearly to celebrate “DEPOWA Day.’’
Omobolanle also called for the institutionalization of the association as a way to underscore the important role it plays in national security.
“Permit me to say that an important step in understanding the huge and important contribution of military and police spouses and families make to Nigeria’s national security is to understand their experiences and perspective as spouses and families.
“We cannot do this on one-off exercise. We need to undertake this on a more institutionalized and sustained basis.
“We need a think-tank to, on a sustained and empirical basis, study military and police families so as to avail relevant policy and other stakeholders timely, relevant and credible information showing areas of critical needs of military families as it affects the defense establishment,’’ she said.
According to her, this noble objective can be achieved through a center for military and family research.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin noted that one of the issues that affected the performances of the military and other security agencies globally was the welfare of their families.
The CDS, who represented by Emmanuel Anebi, the Chief of Defence Policy and Plans, said that due to the nature of the military profession, they spend many years in deployment away from their families.
However, he said, “the assurance that the establishment is concerned about their socio-economic and educational empowerment of their spouses and children, respectively enhances the morale of our officers and men.
“It is gratifying that the DEPOWA has risen up and taken up the challenge of giving a helping hand to military and police families in our barracks.’’
