By Christiana Ekpa
Women groups and organised labour have called on the Constitution Amendment Committee of the National Assembly to ensure fairness in treating issues that affect women, organised labour, and other Nigerians.
They made the call in separate submissions before the Committee at the ongoing public hearing of the North Central Centre A held in Minna, Niger State on Saturday.
The centre comprised Niger, Kwara, and Kogi States.
In a submission, Abaniwo Nathaniel, who spoke on behalf of the group, Women Participating in Politics, called on the 10th Assembly to amend Section 48, Section 49, Section 71, Section 72, as well as Section 91 of the Nigerian Constitution so that a special seat can be reserved for women.
He said, “Today where we have our honourable members ably represented in this place, you will discover that there is no woman in their midst. And this is one inclusivity that we are talking about.
“And where we have women in governance, we can see, even in places like Rwanda, where we are seeing transformational changes, development taking place. In Rwanda, you can agree with me that over 61% of their Parliament are women. We can do that in Nigeria.
“And I urge everyone here to support it, and I pray, our prayer is that the 10th National Assembly should please, as a matter of fact, consider this Bill and make such amendment to the understanding and to the benefit of our women.”
Similarly, in their presentation by Deborah Salawu Zuma, the Coalition of Women Groups in Niger State voiced their support for the proposed Bill for the reservation of special seats for women in the Parliament.
They stated, “From record, women represent less than 5% at the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly. Yes, we are saying that the Niger State women want the giant of Africa to join other countries in producing more women in the Parliament.
“We are supporting this bill because of the sad statistical records. There, in Nigeria, we have only 4.6% of women in the Parliament. We are underrepresented at the legislative arm of the government. And with women, we have a population of more than 50%. As such, we want to progress. We want to provide a voice and a space for negotiating for women’s interests.
“With increased women in the Parliament, they will be able to consult with one another and also be able to make a case for the less privileged women in Nigeria. Women are especially talented. Because women can do so many things. Our increased number in the Parliament will give a renewed hope to the girl child because we’ll be able to act as mentors to our girl children.
“More women in the Parliament will also make us team together and also fight the gender-based violence. This chronic problem in Nigeria is here to be solved by the girl Parliament.”
On its part, the organised labour in Niger State opposed the proposed transfer of labour matters from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
In a presentation by the Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Idrees AbdulKareem Lafene, the workers stated that, “Such a move would undermine the national minimum wage framework and violate international labour standards, especially the annual conversion.”
He added that the organised labour, which as at last count has over 60 million members nationwide, demands full implementation of the Electoral Reform Committee’s recommendation in order to curb the increasing electoral violence, rigging, and public distrust as justification for urgent reform.
He added, “The organised labour calls for Chapter 2 of the Constitution covering socio-economic rights to be made… allowing the citizens legally enforce these rights, as we believe this is essential for accountability and people-oriented governance, that is inclusive governance.
“The governance level also calls for immediate judicial action. We lost them all! Autonomy and, of course, the local government autonomy… and equitable funding of primary schools in Nigeria. That is direct funding.”
The NLC also called for a community-driven security structure that should be used to improve security in order to reduce overstretching the existing security institutions at all levels.
Speaking, a member of the Constitution Review Committee, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, commended the 10th House of Representatives under the leadership of Right Honourable Tajuddeen Abbas for creating the opportunity for members of the public to share their views and what they think the National Assembly should do with how Nigeria is running its democracy, especially with the 1999 Constitution.
“I believe this is a great opportunity that we extended to our people, the youth, women, and the traditional institutions. I believe religion works well. Women are the traditional institution, to share with us their own thoughts, opinion, and, of course, recommendations as to how our democratic process should be run.
“The book we call the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, even though we call it a supreme document of our democracy, was not cast on stone. It is meant for continuous review and review and review.
“And those of us who are only privileged to be members of the National Assembly were not there because we have the best brains in our constituencies. Most of us are there by coincidence of humility of our traditional leaders, humility of our political leaders to just be there, because apparently you cannot have two or three members representing one given community.
“So I want to thank our electorates, especially the people of Nigeria. I want to thank those of us in this zone who have given that opportunity to my colleagues to represent them in the green and the red chamber of the National Assembly.
“I want to assure you that inputs, submissions, recommendations, and comments that we have garnered here will be judiciously used and will reflect the best interests of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I have been in the National Assembly for 34 years today. But I want to put on record that the 10th House of Representatives to which I am proudly a member is one, I think, the best of all the assemblies I served in terms of public responsibility. This process will not only be unprecedented, but it will definitely reflect the interests of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria going forward.”
Hon. Doguwa assured that he has always been an advocate and a proponent of women’s voice.
He said, “The voice of the woman has always been my voice. One, I am a son to a mother. Two, I have daughters that are my own words. Three, I also have four respected wives in my domain. But for me to be sitting here with the women in Niger, who have come out here in colours, make their submissions, very beautiful submissions.
“Submissions that no one here could undermine. But I want to say on record I am afraid if the keyword on your… is called Coalition, I am afraid, which type of Coalition are you talking about?
“Those of us in the center, we don’t want to hear that word Coalition. So if you want my vote to go for the women, please remove the word Coalition of Women in Niger State and use a subtle word so that we can accept your submission.”
