It is very baffling that some women are still fragile to fight for gender equal rights in the society. Perhaps, they're simply unaware that they've been awarded similar rights as the opposite gender, though before now, women had on countless occasions resurrected fights, gone through tough times of struggles, as well as campaigning sessions; going to the extent of persuading other women to join in their crusade to eradicate the debasing issue of gender inequality. Despite that, it would be a blatant assumption to conclude it has been fully surmounted. However in recent days, women are not entirely received with despicable reputation.

Approaching the issue of gender equality, women are predisposed to certain barbaric sentiments, which has summoned upon them self degradation. They ought to know that they own equal rights as the other gender.

Women, from all indications, are engulfed by intense fear, mental depression, limitations to personal confidence, negative beliefs that subdue their level of self worth. This could stem from certain societal challenges or mistakes from their upbringing. Though women are by nature timorous, therefore, it isn't completely unexpected that their lag is taking a lengthy time in the society as well as on campus.

In some  parts of Nigeria, particularly the Northern part where peoples' behaviour is regulated by customs and traditions, they place bounds to girl child education, discourage contact or any form of interaction with the opposite gender, dissuading women from societal exploration and even worse, women are prohibited from furthering their education to the university level.

What do you expect of a girl who was placed on the aforementioned restrictions? Is she supposed to be able to conquer fear and not avoid participation from any activity that is public related? Such women are mostly fenced in constant fear and most likely mental depression.

It is the bitter truth that in the northern part of Nigeria, an enormous amount of women have not the privilege to travel out of their states to another; they're conserved in the particular states they're born. It would be a great cause of challenge to these type of women if they're faced with women from other parts of the country.

Should our parents be blamed for this timidity and fear that surrounds the female folk? Some parents are as stern as rocks; they set some solid rules that affect the mentality and esteem of their children, and as a result, these children are exposed to silent psychological, mental, physical and intense emotional torture. Such victims are least expected to be full of life exuberance and raising the desire to feel among in the society.

Let's take an insight understanding of the words of one of the Inna who are cleaners in the hostel of the female students, UDUS main campus. "I can't take my girl child to the university, because I don't want to take my child to prostitution," a woman said.

If a parent thinks like that, how is the girl child of that parent expected to think? Such girl child have been automatically denied the rights to higher education, and are usually the children who are painted with more fear and are of little or no confidence, even though allowed to further, having been drained in such belief about the higher institutions being "prostitution"; such girl wouldn't out of the fear of being labelled a contemptible name.

The absence of exposure in the life of a girl child can influence their mentality into believing they're incapable of facing the world like the opposite sex. They're caged with fear of expression and socializing, a belief that leads to immortality and major course of their avoidance in many public activities.

Unlike those days when women could not be writers, women today are tendered the full rights to write and be writers, but only few women write. Some write and hide under their pillows for lack of confidence and the funks of criticism.

Women are therefore begged to build self confidence that allows them inherit their rights and frown fears that causes their avoidance from campus and societal benefiting privileges and active engagements.

Maryam Abdullahi is a campus journalist of The News Digest and the winner of the Digest Writing Contest.

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