A few weeks ago, Nigerian women held a ‘mother of all protests’ to ask federal lawmakers to reconsider their rejection of the gender bills during the constitutional amendments. I applaud their efforts.
The rejection of the gender bills did not surprise me, however, because the Nigerian legislature is dominated by men. Nigeria’s legislature has had a history of doing little when issues of women’s rights and protection are brought to the table. In 2021 for instance, a bill sponsored by Senator Ms. Olujumi seeking to promote women empowerment and gender equality suffered a setback in the Nigerian ninth senate when it was opposed by men in the chamber. In 2015, the Nigerian senate, which had only 8 women and 101 men, voted down the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill and in 2013, a move to delete section 29 4(b) from the constitution so as to protect girls from underage marriage was controversially rejected by the heavily male-dominated senate. This must change.
A contributing factor to these outcomes is the low percentage of women in politics. Women make up around 6.4% of the seats in the parliament, one of the worst records in the world. The factors that are responsible or the reasons for this poor participation are related to political parties and structures like; the high cost of politics, which includes even paying for nomination of forms, the cost of campaigns, poor access to gainful employment, and outright discrimination by political leadership. There are societal problems too, such as cultural and religious norms, which place women in a subordinate position to men. A lack of political will and ineffective government policies further complicate the issue of women’s participation in politics.
Since politics controls all aspects of life, including policies that are related to the economy, health, and gender equity, women cannot continue to have a back seat as it means their lives are negatively impacted. As a man who has worked to support women through advocacy and reproductive health services, I have seen how policies that surround women and girls’ access to healthcare and socio-economic inequity affect them. I understand that when more women participate in political leadership, it will influence policies and change the negative narratives surrounding their social wellbeing. I believe more women should be in government, deciding national and local policies.
As elections draw near in Nigeria, political parties have constituted their leadership position and have nominated party delegates. And as elective candidates will soon emerge through party primaries scheduled to end June 3, 2022, women have again been neglected through political machinery and undoubtedly a low number of women will be nominated by political parties
Nigeria should do better; other African countries have made strides in gender representation in politics. For example, women’s representation in Rwanda is 38.5%, Namibia is 23.8%, South Africa is 35.2%, Ethiopia is 32.0%, Burundi 46.2%, Zimbabwe is 43.8% and Gabon is 23.8%. It is not surprising that these countries have far higher Gender Parity Score (GPS) ahead of Nigeria. This means that they have favorable policies and an atmosphere for women and girls to operate and prosper to their potential. It clearly demonstrated also that a higher representation of women in the legislature means improved policies for women.
I am glad that the Nigeria First Lady, Aisha Buhari advised presidential hopefuls to consider women as their running mates. Beyond this appeal, women need to be invited to be more involved in elective positions through a more comprehensive approach.
A long-term approach to improving women’s participation in Nigerian politics is to designate at least one parliamentary seat in each state for women. With this, automatically 36 women would join the 109-member senate across the federation. An example where this approach has worked is in Rwanda. In 2003 there was a constitutional provision for 30% of representatives at all levels of government be women in Rwanda and subsequently, women have steadily increased their presence in government. In Nigeria we have 35% affirmative action for women in appointment and such can be repeated for elective positions also.
Political parties in Nigeria should deliberately make provisions for women in elective positions. They can do this by reducing the cost of nomination forms for women. As it stands, the cost is too high for more women to take the risk of procuring the forms in a contest where they have a slim chance. The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) fixed the cost of nomination form for senate at N20 million ($34,000) and the leading opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at N3.5 million ($5,000). They should also create adequate support for women who are nominated to make electioneering campaigns easy for them. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, NGOs, and women’s groups should increase their support for women seeking elective posts. They should understand that what they have not been able to achieve through protests can be achieved through robust political participation.
Dr Tijani Salami is a physician, sexual and reproductive health expert and founder of Sisters Caregivers Project Initiative which provides medical and social support for women and advocates for an end to child marriage and maternal malnutrition. He is a Senior New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Twitter: @DrSalamiTijani1
