Ministerial list: Include more women, youths in your government, NGO tells Buhari

Following the ministerial nomination as transmitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday last week and the ongoing screening exercise, a Non -Governmental Organisation, Blossom Africa Initiative has urged the president to include more women in his cabinet.

The organisation said the president failed to fulfill his campaign promise of including more women and youths in his cabinet as nobody on the list submitted is bellow 50 years of age, noting that this would deny the country the fresh ideas and unique contributions women and youths are capable of bringing into governance.

The group in a statement by its president, Mr Temitope Musowo, said seven women out of 43 people which represents 16.3 percent is grossly inadequate and against the 35 percent affirmative action.

“This list as far I am concerned is misogynistic and runs foul of the principle of gender equality as obtained in Goal 5 of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, to which Nigeria is a signatory.

“While we are still struggling over 35 percent in Nigeria, some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa like Rwanda, Senegal , etc have even gone past 35 percent, Rwanda is already doing 50 percent and more.

“You can see the difference in those countries that are giving women more opportunities in government, this is because of the unique contribution and flavour women brings into governance.

“Women are passionate about education, health, they are good in mediation and conflict resolution, when you exclude them in governance you deny the society all these,” he said.

Mr. Musowo who spoke earlier in the day on a radio programme, “Political Arena “, said Nigeria is currently ranked 183rd in parliamentary gender equality index and this is not good for sustainable development of the country.

He appealed to women to go beyond singing in political rallies and challenge every institutional decimation and cultural misogyny that limits their potentials.

“I know power is not served alarcarte, it is fought for, women need to push themselves forward especially into elective offices, where their fate would be largely determined by their fellow women who form the larger percentage of the electorates.

“I remember in January last year, UK Special Envoy on Gender Equality, Joanna Roper was in Nigeria, addressing journalists, she said the British government had earmarked 250 million pounds to support more Nigerian women to go into political offices, mediation and conflict resolution.

“Some political parties being gender sensitive even went as far as making party nomination forms free for women to give them more opportunities, so I am appealing to women to give support to their fellow women, because majority of women seeing fellow women on the ballot during election would still cast their votes for the men,” he appealed.

“In fairness to President Muhammadu Buhari, according to our constitution and following the principle of federal character, each state is to produce one minister each, then additional one from each of the six geo- political zones, which means the state governors largely determined the list.

“However, the president could still have insisted on a particular number of women he wanted and the state governors would have put that consideration into their selection process,” he said.

“Meanwhile, since the list has been submitted already, we still have appointment into MDA, the president still have that opportunity to include more women, youths and people with disabilities to leave a worthy legacy of an inclusive government.,” he added.

He maintained that there is need to give a legal backing to this issue of gender equality in government appointments and political offices by ensuring an electoral gender quota for the women.