Women are GIRLs. GIRLs will do better in Politics (GIRL- Great, Innovative, Resourceful, Leader)

Nigeria is Seriously Struggling with Affirmative Action. 

Can Nigeria achieve the SDG 5- Gender Equality? 

According to Farida Jalazi, “when dealing with women round the world, an essential topic to consider is politics.  Specifically, how well do political institutions represent women and what conditions promotes or inhibits women’s political representation?  […]  Exclusion from politics has serious consequences and without female representation, women’s second hand status remains unchanged and it is through engagement in the political system that women’s voices can be heard to enable their interest not minimized in important policy debates.”

It is 2017. The call for gender affirmative action is more than 6 decades and 4 years old in Nigeria!

Nigerian women’s human rights groups, individuals, and female political activists have since the imperialist era struggled for the advancement and protection of women’s human rights in the country.  

Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti

Margaret Ekpo 

Hajiya Sawaba Gambo

The participation of Nigerian women in politics pre-exists British Imperialism, with female socio-political heroines openly confronting gender discriminatory issues despite the dominating patriarchal orientation in the political space. Time and circumstances differ and it is may seem unfair to compare the beneficial effect between the past and present collective efforts of women, yet; the bottom-line remains that the poor use of affirmative action policy coupled with the the non-inclusion of women with conviction and commitment in the political administration, will remain the bane of our existence in the quest for equality.

It is commendable the Nigeria government’s attempts to breathe life into the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995 through the affirmative action policy for women’s political participation, (The National Policy on Women,2000) however; the realization of the goals of this affirmative action remains skeptical. 

Since 1999, a number of Nigerian women have occupied both elective and appointed political position. In 2013 specifically, the ministerial appointments for women was 31%, female permanent secretaries  25%, and female advisers 38% respectively as a practical attempt in breathing life into the 35% affirmative action.  2015 present a clear departure from the progressive realization of political affirmative actions with less than 10% of women in active political activities.(Ngara, Ochanam & Ayabam 2013)

A similar outlook of challenges and hindrances militate against women in politics and political activities in Nigeria. As a deeply rooted patriarchal oriented nation, women’s political quest for elective positions seem an anomaly except for political appointments. Although the trend is changing with few women struggling to dominate the political space, the situation at hand need concerted efforts. Presently, Delta is a clear indication of female political marginalization with 5 of 29 members of the State House of Assembly, 3 of 25 local government chairpersons and 2 of 24 ministerial appointment representing women.

From the problem analysis on hindrances to female political participation in Delta State a plethora of hurdles need to be addressed, namely-

•  Male chauvinism and traditions arising from patriarchy,
• Poor political will from government,
• Broad based gender discrimination and norms,
• Misrepresentation of religious texts,
•  Varying levels of illiteracy for women and girls,
• Inadequate political knowledge and leadership experience,
• Poor political craftsmanship,
• Uncoordinated political platform for collective engagement by women,
• Lack of female political mentor-ship among others.

The negative impacts of the above-listed are manifested in continuous gender based/domestic violence, low representation in political space at all levels, inadequate distribution of resources, absence of gender sensitive laws for the protection of women/girls and subtle accumulated grievances and potential basis for conflicts.

The view of a renowned Nigerian journalist is striking! He queried, “Where are the female political aspirants?” (Reuben Agbati, 2009) It is compelling at this stage to ask, where are the leadership qualities displayed by our past female political leaders?  What was the role of affirmative action in getting them into the political arena?  Why do we now in the face of numerous human rights treaties, legislation and policies find it hard to make meaningful changes for women’s human rights advancement?  What happens without political will?  What is the effect of a token presence of less than 30% affirmative action to the realization of women’s and girls human rights? 

While the collective efforts in advocacy and women organizing have demonstrated that women’s rights are human rights in the patriarchal society like Nigeria, women attaining equality still lies in the offing.  In examining the efforts by women in correlation to the low value placed on women’s advancement, the need to re-strategize politically becomes mandatory. (Nima Ema Mba, 1982)

Although Nigeria has human rights obligation towards the affirmative action policy, political discrimination and abuse of women rights will persist unless a functional state specific approach is considered towards the realization of political equality.  The logic lies in creating a level playing field for women’s political participation, through a concerted efforts with critical stakeholders working collectively on a coordination mechanism in the different states.

In resolving some of these anomalies, women, political parties and development funding agencies can develop strategies which  support efforts on promoting the political participation of women in Nigeria. We have to close the gender gaps in politic and political activities and ensure the negative impact of women’s political marginalization is reduced. In attaining this we call on the donor agencies,  female political leaders and aspirants and progressive political parties to consider the following respective recommendations.

A.   The International Funding Agencies

The international funding agencies play an important role in providing financial and technical assistance for the advancement of women’s human rights in the country. As a result they have a stake in ensuring that their investment in women’s human rights through the functions of the civil society and non-governmental organization is impactful. Below are some helpful tips for the international funding agencies:

•   Undertake a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of project executed for the political empowerment of women
•  Work with the civil society to identify criteria for the selection of reliable and competent female aspirant to participation in the political process
• ·The funding provided for technical support and capacity building should embrace a holistic approach not just a one off pre-election training.
• Encourage women’s human rights activists to adopt a collective agenda that will be a social quasi-contract between women and political parties and their elected representatives

B.   Female Political Leaders and Aspirants

The female political aspirants are considered the potential mouth piece for women in the deliberation of national legislation and policies. In the absence of the civil society, they assume the roles of representatives of women and must ensure that governmental actions at the three tiers must not compromise the advancement or development of women. They are the hope of women in legislating and deciding about the concerns, needs and aspiration of women. The existing constrains at the political fronts are discouraging. However, the zeal for equality becomes the watchword to swing to persistent action.    Below are some helpful tips for female political leaders and aspirant:    

• Build personal confidence and self esteems as leaders
• Become involved with women’s human rights issues and get familiar with the women’s human rights laws such as CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol under international law.
•  Learn from the past female political role models and become role model for emerging and young female leaders
•  Be willing to work with experts on women’s human rights and adopt an agenda to work on behalf of women
• Leaders are reader as a result read to broaden perspective to be empowered for constructive dialogue and deliberation during decision making

C.   The Political Parties in Nigeria

The role of women in nation building cannot be over emphasized. As a result the political parties as the gatekeepers into politics are in the best position to ensure we have a balanced national development. In addition to this, resolving the challenges of women’s political exclusion by identifying competent women and including them in government and decision-making will make the country more governable. Below are some helpful tips for political parties in Nigeria:

• Amend party constitution to be gender responsive and give more recognition to women
• Eliminate discriminatory party politics to present a fair level playing field for women
• Decisions derived from nocturnal meeting should be considered null and devoid and of no effect
•  Give a strong political backing to affirmative active action for women’s political inclusion such as party quotas
• Eliminating the use of labeling against women and giving them more visibility and constructive roles in the party affairs

Excluding women from political participation in Nigeria is a denial of justice.

Justice denied for one day is bad enough......

Culled from:

 “Turning the Tide on Women’s Political Exclusion”-Can Affirmative Action Deliver? MAKING A CASE WITH THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS FOR THE ACHIEVEMENT OF EQUALITY IN NIGERIA” by Monica Voke-Ighorodje, May 2010