By Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
From different parts of the country, female politicians and a sprinkling of supportive men gathered inside the Anambra and Borno meetings halls at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel for the sixth National Women in Parliament Summit.
The summit organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Women in Parliament in collaboration with Women Advocacy Research and Documentation Center (WARDC) had as its theme, “2019 and Beyond: Women and National Development.”
Despite the fact that women came together to brainstorm on how to triumph over the many obstacles they face in politics, the event turned out to be another occasion Nigerian women’s love for fashion was on display. It was easy to see that participants took out time to look well turned out. Decked in the green and lemon yellow ankara aso-ebi for the summit, female members of the House, led the way on the day.
The mood in the summit quickly moved from celebratory and convivial to serious, with the chairperson of the House Committee of Women in Parliament, Evelyn Oboro setting the agenda in her speech.
Oboro, who is the member representing Opke/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency of Delta State, urged that participants make critical interventions so as to equip female aspirants with the right skills in order to record a higher percentage of success for the womenfolk in 2019.
“This summit intends to keep the gender agenda at the heart of public discourse. It also seeks to help more women and women groups in their preparations for the 2019 elections, starting with active participation in the ongoing process to ensure an engendered outcome”, she stated.
Speaker Yakubu Dogara who stormed the summit with a large entourage didn’t mince words, when it came to highlighting reasons why the top echelons of government at the federal and state levels are still dominated by men.
According to the Speaker, men who have been in control of the offices where decisions are made have ensured that only a few women are let into the corridors of power, frustrating efforts to realise 35 percent representation for women in government.
Dogara bluntly posited that it has become imperative for the country’s leaders to match many years of promising gender equality, with action as countries that have long embraced women’s participation in politics and governance have recorded a high level of development and economic growth, while still Nigeria lags behind.
He stressed to the joy of participants, that, appointing qualified female professionals into top positions is one sure way or remedying the poor representation of women in high public office.
He said : “The Rwandan Constitution reserves 24 out of 80 (30 percent) seats exclusively for women in the Chamber of Deputies. However, the electorate of Rwanda have consistently surpassed the Constitutional prescription and voted over 50 percent of women as members. This is because Rwanda placed women inclusion, empowerment, gender equality and participation in politics as a cardinal part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country after the Rwandan genocide where over 1 million people perished. It has proved critical to the social and economic progress of Rwanda.
“Does Nigeria have something to learn from the Rwandan example? Because of deep-seated cultural attitudes, it may be difficult to reach consensus on affirmative action for elective offices in Nigeria at this point in time. It is however, easier to achieve this affirmative action through executive action. This would require the buy in of political parties and elected officials particularly, the president with a singular determination to achieving this. In Nigeria, the political parties have made efforts to remove the requirement of financial contributions or fees for clearance of women to contest various elective offices. What then stops the political parties from affirmative action for women for appointive offices when they win power? We must be prepared to rid ourselves of this pretensions.
“The political will must be found by political actors before this can be achieved. Political education on the importance of women in politics should also be stepped up as a deliberate priority for advocates. We should not market this issue just as women empowerment the way we are doing. We must make effort to show that active involvement of women in politics would lead to rapid social and economic progress of the whole nation”.
Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, who spoke on the topic, Women in Politics, stressed that the 2019 elections gives Nigeria the opportunity to get back on track with regard to building on past gains. He maintained that leaders at all levels and other stakeholders must give women the necessary push that will lead to the 2019 election serving as the remedy for the reduction in the number of female ministers and women in the National Assembly, following the 2015 elections
In her presentation, Chairperson House Committee on Foreign Relations, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, opined that more needs to be done to change the fortunes of women in politics and governance. Though, she outlined factors that hinder female participation in politics, Ukeje, who represents Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State, observed that for too long, women and those who have faith in them have dwelled on the challenges and haven’t done much to improve on the checkered history of women seeking power.
While commending Dogara for calling on Nigerian men to stop suppressing women in politics, she joined him in arguing that the continued low percentage of women in governance is detrimental to the country’s push to move from the third world, to the first. The lawmaker further advised that women keep trying until they succeed.
Adding much verve to the event were female House members, who came in their numbers. They include, the only female principal officer in the lower House and Deputy Minority Whip, Binta Bello, Ayo Omidiran, Benny Lar, Boma Goodhead, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Betty Apiafi and the Deputy Chairperson of the Women in Parliament Committee, Asabe Vilita Bashir. At the forefront of attending female members of State Houses of Assembly was former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Elizabeth Ativie. From the civil society fold, came respected gender activists, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi of WARDC and Prof. Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam a director with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.