ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi-
The Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, has said that his administration plans to spend the sum of N3.5 billion for the implementation of The Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law in the state.
Governor Mohammed revealed this on Friday, during a speech at the Launch of the Costed Model Action Plan and the inauguration of the Advisory and Technical Committees for the implementation of the VAPP Law at the Government House, Bauchi.
He said that the Costed Model Action Plan (CMAP) would help in the smooth implementation of the VAPP Law between 2021 and 2025.
According to him, Bauchi is the first state to practically domesticate the VAPP LAW in the North-East, despite the challenges of persistent gap between commitment and financial support.
Governor Mohammed, further explained, that the implementation of the VAPP law would only be possible through proper funding and political good will.
“The Costed Model Action Plan (CMAP), is a significant achievement that underlines the commitment of the government of Bauchi State to implementing the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law 2020 and eliminating violence against persons in our society”.
“The CMAP is a tool that will help produce results through clearly defined activities and targets, careful costing and identification of actors responsible for the implementation of the Programme”.
“It provides an implementation strategy and a clearly defined monitoring and evaluation components, it also includes an estimated cost of package of the whole programme totalling over N3.7 billion”, the governor stated.
In her address, The UN Women’s Deputy Country Representative, Lansana Wonneh, said the VAPP law represents the core value of the United Nations.
He, however, lamented that the domestication of the law at the Federal level, had made the process very slow across the 36 states of the country.
“This therefore, means that the process of preventing all forms of violence and discrimination against vulnerable people and every citizen of Nigeria, has not been realized in many parts of Nigeria”.
“However, with the COVID-19 crisis, we also realized that there are increasing levels of violence particularly the gender based violence faced by women and girls, and that is precisely the entry point for UN Women.” He explained.
On his part, The Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, who lamented the increasing cases of gender based violence in the state and the country at large, called for more action as provided in the VAPP law.
He described violence against persons particularly gender based violence as barbaric assuring that the Bauchi State House of Assembly will continue to provide support to all programmes geared towards the protection of all.
Hon. Suleiman said the VAPP Law is an improvement on the Penal Code in relation to violence. This is because it makes provision for compensation for victims as well as protection of their rights.
He explained that in the law, offences like rape, spousal battery, female genital mutilation, forcefully ejection from home, harmful traditional practices and many more were adequately taken care of in the law.
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that the Chairperson, of the Advisory Committee is the First Lady, Aisha Bala Mohammed; Other members are: the Commissioners of: Women Affairs, Budget and Economic Planning, Health, Justice, Local Govt Affairs.
Others are Special Adviser, Multilateral; Special Adviser, Legal Matters; State Chief Judge; Representative of the Commissioner of Police; Representative of the Emir of Bauchi and the Representative of the Secretary to the State Government.
For the Technical Committee: The Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General, Bauchi State, Barrister Yakubu Bello Kirfi is the Chairman; while others are Representative of Bauchi State Judiciary; Representative of the Bauchi State House of Assembly; Representatives of the Ministries of Women Affairs, Budget and Economic Planning, Local Government Affairs, Health, Information and Education, Representative of Commissiner of Police, the traditional and religious institutions, among others.
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