By Abubakar Yunusa
A group of civil society organisations and gender activists, at the weekend, sought affirmative action to increase more women representation in Nigeria’s political leadership space.
The group lamented that the current political arrangement in the country was in favour of man.
President of Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Barr. Ebere Ifendu, disclosed this in Abuja, during a one workshop for CSOs with the theme: “Coordination and Strategy Meeting on Affirmative Action Reform To Increase Women Political Representations in the Ongoing Constitution Review Process.”
She also expressed gratitude to donors, including UN Women, IFES, Canada, and NDI, for their contributions to promoting women’s and girls’ rights in Nigeria.
Ifendu noted that the meeting aimed to unify efforts towards a common goal of constitutional amendments for affirmative action to increase women’s political representation.
She said: “The WPP Technical Working Group was formed as a response to the continuous poor representation of women in governance after election cycles. Recognizing the need for better coordination and collaboration to empower women politically.
“UN Women Nigeria, in collaboration with other CSOs and international development partners, organized a 2019 post-mortem conference that convened all actors working on women’s political empowerment in Nigeria.”
In her remarks, the Founding Director of Women Aid Collective (WACOL), Prof. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, advocates for a conducive environment to encourage more women to participate in politics.
She said: “The power is women are not, the political under-representation of women is a source of concern for not just women in Nigeria, but the international community. We have half of the population of women in Nigeria, and our female population is about 50-50.
“But when it comes to representation in governance at all levels, you see that women are lagging behind for the rest of African countries, especially Nigerian women are lagging behind.
“So, that’s why we are talking about affirmative action or quota system at political party level, or legislative amendment that will also reflect political affirmative action, so that it will enhance women’s political representation.
“And on the part of women, again, they have to get prepared, because political power or seeking for elected positions is not a tea party. You don’t just wake up and jump into it. You have to prepare your ground, you have to know your community, you have to understand your constituency, you have to invest in it, you have to also have a budget for it, be able to take in also.”
