Canada, UN partner to boost Nigerian women's political participation
Women raise their fist during a disgruntled faction of older women and Inspired group march with a banner during a walk demanding better government due to the recent hike in insecurity, hunger and inequality against women across the country, to mark International Women’s Day in Lagos, on March 8, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Acting Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria Kevin Tokar said during the launch in Abuja that they seek to promote women's participation towards the 2023 polls and beyond.
- In a press statement, UN Women said the four-year programme, launched in March, will be implemented in the states of Kaduna, Kwara, Borno, Ekiti, Ebonyi and Cross-River.
Canada, in partnership with UN Women, has initiated a programme aimed at increasing women political participation in Nigeria.
The Canadian government has signed a grant agreement of C$8 million to implement the programme, titled ‘The Advance: Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria’.
The acting Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Kevin Tokar, said during the launch in Abuja that they seek to promote women's participation towards the 2023 general election and beyond.
In a press statement, UN Women said the four-year programme, which commenced in March, will be implemented in the states of Kaduna, Kwara, Borno, Ekiti, Ebonyi and Cross-River.
Mr Tokar expressed the significance of women in leadership positions, saying they are key to addressing issues pertaining to women and girls and sustainable development.
He said the programme will support the capacity of legislators, electoral bodies and political parties to enact gender-responsive laws and policies that promote gender balance in leadership.
Training, mentorship
It will also support the training and mentoring of women to participate in political and election processes, with the aim of increasing women voters, candidates and elected officials at the federal, state and local levels.
“Canada is proud to support efforts to raise the voices of women in political and legislative spaces in Nigeria. We firmly believe that increased political participation by women ultimately leads to increased prosperity, peace and security for all Nigerians.” said Mr Tokar.
The UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and Ecowas, Ms Comfort Lamptey, commended the Canada for the support, saying it will go a long way in championing women leadership.
“At a global level, women’s role in decision-making is a pillar of the UN Women's mandate. However, as it stands, and despite the tireless efforts of women and some critical male allies, Nigeria lags severely behind other African nations for women’s representation in democratic governance,” said Ms Lamptey.
She lauded the action taken by the House of Representatives to rescind its decision on three gender-related bills, terming it the correct course of action. The Nigerian parliament came under sharp criticism last month for shooting down four bills that were aimed at ensuring gender justice through the advancement of the rights of Nigerian women as full citizens.
Representation
The bills in question are around citizenship, indigeneity and relate directly to women’s representation, and affirmative action.
The House of Representative Deputy Chief Whip, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, thanked the women's movement in Nigeria for the spontaneous reaction that forced parliament to rescind its resolution and reconsider three of the four gender bills it had earlier rejected.
Baobab for Women's Human Rights (Baobab), a women's human rights organisation focussing on women's legal rights in Nigeria, had led the condemnation of parliament.
Baobab Executive Director Bunmi Dipo-Salami termed the action by the MPs a gross display of lack of respect for the dignity and rights of women.
Ms Salami said it was also a demonstration of poor accountability for the progress of women and, by implication, the progress of the nation.
“What they have said, which Nigerian women have heard loud and clear, is that we do not matter, they do not care about us, and no matter what we do, we are regarded as second-class citizens,” Ms Salami said in a statement.
Political space
The gender bills sought to enhance the lives of women through inclusive citizenship rights and provide opportunities for them to participate fully in the political and governance space.
One of the proposals was aimed at guaranteeing citizenship to foreign-born husbands of Nigerian women; the Nigerian constitution already confers automatic citizenship on foreign-born wives of Nigerian men.
Another proposal would have given a woman the right to become an indigene of her husband’s state after five years of marriage. Yet another sought to assign 35 per cent of legislative seats to women, and reserve 35 per cent of political party leadership for women.
The rights organisation called on the Nigerian government to end practices that undermine the dignity of women.
“We join other women’s organisations and groups, as well as well-meaning Nigerians, to reject the NASS rejection; to demand the Nigerian parliament put the advancement of women on the agenda by approving the relevant bills to call on all stakeholders to protect the present and future generations of women,” she said.
Worrying statistics
Women make up nearly half the country’s population but are underrepresented in the political space. Currently, only eight out of 109 senators are women; only 22 out of 360 House of Representatives members are women; there is no female governor; and only 44 out of 990 state houses of assembly are women.
Nigerian women constitute less than five per cent of elected members in the National Assembly. In state assemblies, the figure is 4.43 per cent and for ministerial appointments, it is 16.2 per cent.
The Federal High Court in Abuja last week ordered the federal government to enforce the National Gender Policy by allocating 35 per cent of public appointments to women.
The Women in Politics Forum, a nongovernmental organisation, in a suit against the Nigerian government, demanded the implementation of the 35 per cent affirmative action in appointments of women to public offices.
Justice Donatus Okorowo, delivering a judgment, agreed with the plaintiff that Nigerian women had been subjected to various forms of discrimination concerning appointments to key public positions.
