The Niger State Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party Muhammad Nami
The Niger State Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party Muhammad Nami has vowed to restore the livelihood, and dignity of the rural woman.
Nami made the vow during the International Day of Rural Women, where he called for urgent and decisive action to protect rural women from insecurity, displacement, poverty and the growing humanitarian crisis affecting communities across the state.
The former chief executive officer of the Federal Inland Revenue Service said “this year’s commemoration must go beyond speeches and symbolic celebrations,” stressing that “the true measure of commitment to rural women lay in the government’s ability to guarantee their safety.”
Quoting reports from the Niger State Government indicating that more than 300,000 people have been displaced across 10 local government areas of Niger State, Nami said “the human scale of the crisis demands immediate humanitarian intervention and a comprehensive security strategy that places the protection of rural communities at its centre.”
He noted that many rural women who once sustained their families through farming, petty trading, food processing, and other agricultural activities are now living in internally displaced persons camps, while others have been forced to seek refuge in neighbouring communities and across international borders.
“For these women, the consequences of insecurity extend far beyond the loss of homes and farmlands. They include hunger, loss of income, interrupted education for their children, limited access to healthcare, exposure to gender-based violence, and the painful uncertainty of not knowing when they will return home,” he said.
Continuing, the politician stressed, “Rural women must not be forgotten in the conversation about security and development in Niger State. They are mothers, farmers, food producers, entrepreneurs, and the backbone of our rural economy. When insecurity drives them away from their farms and communities, it threatens not only their survival but also food security, family stability, and the economic future of our state.”
Nami added that no society can achieve meaningful development when its women are forced to flee their homes, abandon their farms, and depend on humanitarian assistance to survive.
Nami called for a security framework that prioritises the protection of vulnerable rural communities, the prevention of attacks on farming settlements, the rescue of abducted persons and the restoration of peace in areas affected by banditry and terrorism.
He insisted that rural women should be able to work on their farms, take their produce to market, access healthcare, and send their children to school without the fear of being attacked, raped, kidnapped, or killed.
“My vision for Niger State is one in which no woman is forced to abandon her home because armed groups have taken control of her community; no mother has to choose between risking her life on the farm and allowing her children to go hungry; and no family is left without hope because government has failed to protect them,” Nami said.