Charting the Way Forward for Women Representation in Nigeria

 

Decades after adopting the National Gender Policy on 35 per cent Affirmative Action for Women, Nigeria still lags well behind most countries across the world in female representation in parliament, cabinet and court. Despite advocacies to promote gender equality not much has been achieved. With the ongoing process of review of the 1999 Constitution, expectations are rife that, unlike previous times,  the proposed amendment to the constitution would address the concerns of  Nigerian women. Josephine Ejeh who spoke with renowned women activists championing the course for equal participation of women in governance in Nigeria, re-echoes their views in this special report.

 

    Nigeria's National Assembly complex in Abuja.

Globally, Nigeria has been touted as the giant of Africa. In terms of abundance of natural resources, it is second to none in the whole of Africa. It is also the envy of many countries because of its rich cultural and ethnic diversity. In the area of human resources, the country is endowed with a huge population of productive youths who constitute a formidable team for the development of any nation. However,  in terms of gender equality, there is much to be desired.

Statistics revealed that women who represent nearly half of the Nigerian population that stands at over  200 million are very central to the country's socio-political and economic development. 

The World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources, put the population figure of females in Nigeria at 49. 33 per cent,  yet they are not given their rightful place in the country to contribute to national development.

Women constitute an indispensable force in the quest for the national development of any nation. In the developed nations, women have been able to play this important role but  in Nigeria, they are still relegated to the background as they lack the educational, economic and political power necessary to actualize their full potential.

This remains a serious setback for the country in the annals of global development history.

For decades,  the state of women’s representation in governance in the country has remained abysmally low with less than 6 per cent women in the parliament.

According to the International Parliamentary Union, presently, Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of female representation in parliament across Africa with the country occupying an unenviable position of  181  out of 193 in the global ranking, leaving much to be desired as more women-centric organisations and activists  have continued to advocate for an inclusive governance that gives women their rightful place in the day to day running of the country.

As the process for the ongoing review of 1999 constitution gathers momentum,  more voices are being added to the welling calls for amendment of some clauses in the constitution for inclusion of a quota system to make for adequate representation of women at all levels of governance and leadership of the country.

Lending her voice to this course, the  President, International Federation of Female Lawyers( FIDA),  Nigeria, Barrister Rhoda  Tyoden told Humanity Watch at the weekend  that the proposed constitutional amendment was long overdue and while describing it as a good development hoped that the leadership of the Senate will do due diligence to the matter.

President, International Federation of Female Lawyers( FIDA),  Nigeria, Barrister Rhoda  Tyoden

"The Senate President has spoken and as a distinguished man that he is, we want to trust him to deliver on his words. It doesn't matter what the senate has not done in the past on this same matter. For what we have now is what they have said and we trust them to match action with words."

"Women of Nigeria are watching and these women comprise of their colleagues in the National Assembly, their mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and granddaughters," she said.

FIDA is an association of women lawyers in 36 states of Nigeria with a mandate to promote, protect and preserve the rights of women and children in Nigeria.

Speaking recently in his speech to commemorate the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD), Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said any government that neglects women cannot attain development and is bound to fail.

Pundits have observed that while the President has repeatedly averred this on a different occasion, he has failed to match his words with action with only an insignificant number of seven women presently in his cabinet.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan also stated in his speech to mark the IWD that the Senate resolved to amend the constitution to ensure gender parity. This is not the first time the Senate would make such an assuring remark but disappointedly, the first, second and third alterations to the 1999 Constitution enacted during the 6^th Assembly between 2007-2011, did not record significant amend especially about the demands of women.

Similarly, the Senate President had also recently called on the public to made useful suggestions on how to improve governance in the country as the Senates held a 2-day public hearing across the geo-political zones in the country as part of the process for the ongoing constitutional review.

Gender equality is one of the eight goals listed in the year 2000 UN Millennium Development Report. The achievement of this goal requires women’s empowerment. Furthermore, the United Nations emphasizes that women and men should have equal opportunities to make decisions in parliament.

In Nigeria,  where women representation in parliament, cabinet and court remains stubbornly low despite several attempts, the reverse is however what obtains.

Tyoden who was speaking against the backdrop of the ongoing moves for amendment of the 1999 Nigeria constitution noted that under the current dispensation, women occupy only 4.7 per cent of the total elective position, "which, according to her," is not right for true democracy."

This implies that nearly 50 per cent of  the Nigeria population are excluded from decision making on issues that directly affect them which, she said is contrary to the principle of equity and an egalitarian society.

Several efforts have been made to address the low representation of women in Nigeria in elective and appointive positions in Nigeria; notable among which are the establishment of Women Political empowerment office and Nigeria Women Trust Funds, Women Lobby Group.

Other efforts include the establishment of Women Political Empowerment Office and Nigeria Women Trust Funds, Women Lobby Group. The institution of an INEC Gender Policy, the national multi-stakeholder dialogue; the initiation of several interventions to actualize affirmative action and the convening of the Nigeria Women Strategy Conference.

The National Center for Women Development in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics is also making efforts to show the progress made so far towards  achieving the affirmative declaration and  to determine how the gap that  existed has been closed as well as to measure the variation between where we are and the Affirmative Action of 35 per cent.

From being a party member, voting at elections, vying and contesting for an elective position to being elected into elective position and also getting appointed into a public office, the participation of women is vividly seen but yet they are not given the place they deserve.

The FIDA Nigeria President puts this into perspective when she observed   that: "Women all over Nigeria participate in politics, they are into campaigns, and they come out en mass to vote. In all these you can say that they participate but when it comes to vying for elective positions and appointments to public offices, they are grossly underrepresented."

Many factors have been attributed to this development to which not a few Nigerians especially women believe that the ongoing review process of the  1999 constitution considered as military-driven present a golden opportunity to address all  these anomalies to give women their place of pride in the country.

Gender inequality bane of meaningful development

Tyoden further noted that there can be no meaningful development in a country with a wide gap of gender inequality, hence the need for the leadership of the Assembly to give priority to the issues that affects women’s progress in the ongoing constitutional review.

“For any nation to develop and be healthy, there must be gender parity in public life. The need for the amendment of the constitution cannot, therefore, be overemphasized," she said.

To hold government accountable, she said women must continue to demand accountability in all ramifications which form the  basis for the Nigerian women’s demand for the amendment of the Constitution to address the continuous discrimination and violation of women's rights both in private and in public life.

Public trust in government 

But, Tyoden's view on the commitment of the National Assembly to the constitutional amendment differs from the opinion shared by a few other women who appear to have lost trust and confidence in government.  

The President of Women in Politics Forum (WIPF) Barrister Ebere Ifendu, while recently, responding to the statement attributed to the Senate President on the resolve of the Assembly to amend the constitution to ensure gender parity, expressed mixed feelings, saying women would rather wait to see the end of it before celebrating since the constitutional review process is ongoing.

"For me, the statements are promises and not enough for us to go sit back. We need to pressurise them to look into the document submitted is looked into towards ensuring that there is a quota system,” she stressed.

The President of Women in Politics Forum (WIPF) Barrister Ebere Ifendu

WIPF is a multi-party forum for women which recognizes the marginalization of women  in politics, decision making and the importance of unity regardless of party affiliation to give a voice to women in leadership.

Ifendu’s scepticism is rooted in years of repeated failed promises from the government and lack of genuine commitment to ending the wide gap of gender equality.

She noted that the section 42 of the constitution which condemns discrimination against any citizens were not being adhered to, saying that patriarchy is a form of affirmative action for men.

While questioning government’s sincerity to ensuring gender parity, she said: "Patriarchy is the main factor hindering gender parity in Nigeria and I tell men that patriarchy is a form of affirmative action.”

"The truth is that in every society, the constitution cannot be a paper that can’t be amended. All over the world, there are about 40 countries that have made provisions for quota system to support women, so why is Nigeria not doing that? At “I’m advocating that the day they would vote for constitutional amendment especially on those clauses affecting women, we need to see them vote openly because at at this point in time, we need people to come boldly to say we are against women so that we can be guided on our choices especially with our huge population,” she said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund(NWTF),  Mufuliat Fijabi  expressed concerns that  22 years after Nigeria returned to democracy and 25 years after the country adopted the Beijing Platform and Declaration for Action, progress made is yet to translate into significant gains in recent years.

 The  Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (NWTF)  was created in 2011 to increase the representation of women in Nigerian governance at all levels and address the growing concerns about the gender imbalance in elective and appointive positions.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund

Fijabi  noted that currently, women   who have always played a significant role in the democratic process since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democratic rule, constitute only 4.38 per cent of leadership positions in Nigeria, from 6.1 per cent in 2017; and despite constituting about half of the nation’s population, women remain grossly voiceless and subsequently underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions in public offices.

She reiterated that women’s representation and political participation has remained abysmally low with the  national average of women’s political participation in Nigeria pegged at  4.3 per cent in elective and appointive positions, which is far below the Global Average of 22.5 per cent, Africa Regional Average of 23.4 per cent, and West African Sub Regional Average of 15 per cent.

 Absence of enabling environment for women’s growth

It is widely believed that socio-economic variables like literacy rate, patriarchal system, culture, race, religion, violence, rigging, night meetings, blackmail, and social cohesion, among others, largely affect women’s participation in politics.

Pointing out the lacked enabling environment for women’s participation in Nigeria, she said women holding great political positions in the western world were not different from the women in Nigeria, but the disparity is in the enabling environment which allows women in the western world to engage meaningfully without any form of discrimination.

“In the western countries, their election and electoral processes are devoid of any form of violence, high monetization and intimidation. Their laws are sacrosanct and respecter of no man. Rule of law is entrenched. Their political stage is a flat stage for all,” she said.

While commending the emergence of the first-ever   Tanzanian Woman President, the FIDA Nigeria President said women are qualified to be so elected and should be given the opportunity without any bias or unequal treatment.

“There are countless women that meet the qualifications and criteria for the office of the President, all we need is an enabling environment that is free and fair without any inhibitions or limitations. Nigerian women are great leaders with evidence all over the globe showing their giant strides in their respective offices,” she stated.

Speaking further, Tyoden said the government must do the needful to create the enabling environment for more women to participate in politics with particular reference to the amendment of the Nigerian Constitution that will promote gender parity in all spheres of public life.

On efforts made by her organisation,  Fijabi said the Nigeria Women Trust Fund have been committed to strengthening the capacity of women in decision-making processes are to create an enabling environment where women and men can participate equitably in the leadership and governance structure of the country.

“We cannot continue to be in a country where half of its population is not carried along in governance. This is not sustainable. It also means that in terms of the policy formulation and implementation, we are not getting the right perspective on issues which mean that policy may fail and would not meet the needs of all citizens,” she said in a media interview.

 She said NWTF is  interested in changing this narrative to ensure that democracy works for everyone in the society; leaving no one behind, adding, this is the only sure way  to the national development that we all are craving.

“We are also interested in value-based leadership. We want to have a new generation of citizens that are aware that politics is about public service. The narrative of leadership without accountability is something we want to see dismantled in the country. We are strengthening women’s capacity to ensure that when they get into governance, our nation’s common wealth is used for our collective well-being and not for a few,” she added.

 As part of steps  to close the prevailing gender gaps in the leadership and governance spectrum of the country, Fijabi said NWTF has been building the capacity of women to undertake leadership positions in the country through mentorship and sensitization training workshops in various states of the country.

“The NWTF has also been involving critical stakeholders, policymakers, government agencies, traditional and religious leaders in terms of advocacy and commitment towards ensuring increased women’s participation in politics and leadership positions in the country,” she added.

 Going forward

The FIDA Nigeria President emphasized the urgent need for the implementation of the provisions of the National Gender Policy which is in tandem with the declarations of the Beijing Platform for Action and the 35 per cent Affirmative Action.

She said government at all levels must create an enabling environment that is devoid of any form of discrimination and violations of women rights which are human rights.

As a panacea for the gender equality gap, she advocated that political party constitution should be gender-neutral,- government should implement the recommendations of the Electoral Reform Committees ( Justice Uwais Committee)which was holistic in approach, support the bill that seeks to make it mandatory for a quota system allocation of seats to women in every state and empowerment of women to enable them to compete favourably.

 "We must note that majority of women are in unpaid care jobs with little or no income, which limits the resources at their disposal, it also affects the time they may have to participate in politics. Government should invest more in public facilities and infrastructure which will help reduce the time and energy the woman expends in her unpaid care job,” she said.

Auta believes that our laws should be gender-neutral and the government should take proactive measures to ensure effective implementation of our national laws, and all international instruments to which Nigeria is a signatory to.

She further advocated that women should continue to build coalitions nationwide in all communities to sensitize and create awareness on the need to participate in politics, adding that men should see women as partners and not competitors to collectively build back a better Nigeria for all.

 Constitutional review to the rescue

Sharing a similar view, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Seed Foundation, Lois Auta  also believes that  if the  1999 constitution  is reviewed to  accommodates the interest of women,  the issue of  gender equality which women groups have been advocating for will be put to rest.

“In all the provisions provided in the constitution, I want to see the inclusion of women issues, women with disabilities, young girls and see that  issues of the elderly, the pregnant women, the vulnerable groups are captured accordingly. I want to see the 35 per cent affirmative action that the women groups are advocating for given to them.”

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Seed Foundation, Lois Auta 

"Women groups through  the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs are advocating for 35 per cent, women with disabilities are asking for 5 per cent. I want to see the inclusion of the vulnerable groups in the constitution we are amending. Our issues should be well documented in the constitution,” the founder of the organisation working to provide  services support persons  with disabilities  to participate in all aspects of lives by mainstreaming their issues and concerns into the national development agenda," Auta emphasized.

What women want

Major areas of concern, she  wants members of the parliament to  include in the proposed constitutional review  are economic empowerment, political inclusion, political will and the appointment or electing of women on both elective and appointive positions because when you empower a woman you empower nations.

“When you empower women resources are managed accordingly, when you empower a woman any country's GDP will improve. The senate should concentrate on investing in the lives of women, young girls and women with disabilities, they should come up with ideas and programmes on empowering them economically,” she expatiated.

Her greatest concern is that years after the signing of the affirmative action not even 5 per cent out of the 35 per cent Affirmative Action has been achieved.

Nigeria’s  adoption of  the National Gender Policy of 35 per cent Affirmative Action for women is one of the several efforts made to empower women in politics in line with Beijing Declaration of 1995.

The activist insisted  that women should be encouraged to  run for offices without any barriers or hindrances that will stop her from reaching her goals.

“I want to see women being supported and encouraged to run for offices without any barrier or hindrances that will stop her. I want to see women being carried along in every government agenda, policies and programmes, when a president is a man, the vice president should be a woman, when governors of Nigeria states are men, the deputies should be women, When Local Government Chairmen are men, their vice should be women. Our counsellors should be 50 per cent of female candidates. Doing this will ensure the achievement of the 35 per cent,” she demanded.

In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Seed Foundation believes that if the 35 per cent affirmative action or 50 per cent quota system is achieved in Nigeria for women, it will increase Nigeria's GDP and invariably improve the lives of Nigeria's citizens.

She further noted that it will bring development and progress in every aspect and sector of the Nigerian economy since women are naturally good leaders and managers, they have the capacity or competence to manage the country’s resources, adding, Nigeria should begin to search for ways of ensuring that women are given the same opportunity and the same rights as a man.

“Leadership does not have gender, it doesn't know the status, what leadership needs is a compassionate woman and man that is ready to serve his or her people. When 35 per cent or 50 per cent of elective and appointive positions are given equally to women, many good things will happen to Nigeria. We are going to have inclusivity, accessibility, and affordability in all our endeavours and I hope to see this being achieved very soon,” she said.

 Women groups in Nigeria through the Incorporated Trustees of the National Women's Trust Fund have challenged the poor implementation of the 35 per cent Affirmative Action and the violation of the National Gender Policy 2006 which was instituted after affirming the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 by the Nigerian government in court.

They are also seeking the interpretation of the provisions of the Nigerian constitution which prohibits all forms of discrimination with particular reference to sections 42, 147 and 14(2) and the provisions of many international instruments of which Nigeria ratified and is a signatory to.

The present Nigerian government will continue to be seen by many critics as hypocritical and only paying lip service to the issue of gender equality unless it respects and adheres strictly to the 35 per cent affirmative action as enshrined in the National Gender  Policy.