Women are marginalized when it comes to politics and political appointments so I understand why women in Nigeria are asking the National Assembly to pass a law that will guarantee women get at least 35% of elective and political appointive positions.
I am torn about this idea because our constitution explicitly guarantee both men and women equal rights. I do understand why women want this so bad and I believe they should get it. Politics is a very dirty game in Nigeria dominated by a huge majority who are backwards and archaic in their thinking.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment last year during a State visit to Germany was proof of that. Our President with Angela Merkel standing beside him said “I don’t know what party my wife belongs to, I have superior knowledge over her because I ran for the presidency four times, my wife belongs in my bedroom and kitchen” when asked by a reporter his thoughts on his wife publicly critiquing him.
The First Lady and wife of our President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari critiquing her husband publicly was no excuse for our leader to make such a statement, he could have been diplomatic. I was terribly embarrassed, disappointed and disgusted that our leader would make such a sexist and misogynistic statement with arguably the world’s most powerful woman standing beside him.
President Buhari is the face, voice, the number one citizen and the chief diplomat of our Nation. Our President’s comment also reinforced the idea that women are beneath men amongst the religious, traditional and political class in Nigeria. President Buhari’s slogan is “Change begins with me”, it’s time for our leader to change. Our President is supposed to be a progressive, he is the leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), emphasis on progressive.
I was even more embarrassed that our Celebrities, the female Members in the National Assembly, our female Deputy Governors and the Wives of our State Governors refuse to let their voices vibrate passionately against this type of misogyny and sexism.
Why did women in Nigeria not organize and let their voices vibrate all across Nigeria after our President uttered those horrible words? What were they scared off?
The Political Elite in Nigeria don’t consider female politicians as equals, women are never consulted or involved when it comes to political calculations. I blame our past Presidents, President Buhari, our political parties and Nigerian women for this.
The immediate past Chairperson of the Democratic Party in the United States was a woman. The Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party in the 2016 U.S elections was a woman. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Chancellor of Germany and the President of both Liberia and Singapore are women.
If you take a look at our two major political parties in Nigeria today, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), we have no women holding sway in the National Working Committee (NWC). The NWC is the executive arm of a party responsible for the day-to-day governance as well as oversight of its national activities.
The APC claim to be the party of progressives, yet they don’t have one single woman in their NWC, not one. The PDP on the other hand has just one woman in its NWC and she doesn’t even have a significant role, she is given the title “Woman Leader”.
I stand to be corrected but I don’t think our major political parties has ever had a female as National Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary, Publicity Secretary, Financial Secretary or Legal Adviser, why? Are there not any capable women that could be members of the NWC of our two major political parties?
In Nigeria today, we don’t have a female Governor. There are 4 female Deputy Governors out of 36. We have 5 female Ministers out of 36. There are 8 female Senators out of 109. We have just 19 female Members in our House of Representatives out of 360 and there are only 2 female Principal Officers out of the 20 we have in our National Assembly.
We need more women involved in politics. We definitely need more women in elective and appointive positions. Hillary Clinton said recently that women need to rise to the challenge by using their numerical strength to seize power and aspire to all possible positions as a way of proving their worth, I concur.
How are the 27 female Members out of 469 in our National Assembly going to get this proposed affirmative action bill for women that failed once before passed? How are “The 27” going to change the minds of their male counterparts who voted against this bill a few months ago?
Mrs. Buhari, “The 27”, The Minister of Women Affairs, female Deputy Governors, Wives of our State Governors, the Richest Woman in Nigeria, every single literate Nigerian woman and all our Celebrities have to organize and let their voices vibrate at incredible decibels at the National Assembly, the Presidential Villa, Government Houses in our 36 States, at our State Houses of Assembly, across every social media platform and at every event covered by the press in and outside Nigeria until this proposed bill becomes law.
In conclusion, Mrs. Buhari, “The 27”, the Wives of our State Governors and the Minister of Women Affairs have to start mentoring young aspiring female politicians. They have to encourage all women to speak on national issues. They also have to partner up with major organizations to provide capacity building for women who want to go into governance and politics.
Written by Nosa Eweka
Nosa Eweka is an Entrepreneur and a Member of the Benin Royal Family. He can be reached at nosaeweka@yahoo.com
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