ActionAid Nigeria has called on women in the country to remain resolute in the quest to achieve gender equality.
This call was made following the Senate’s rejection of a bill seeking to guarantee equal marital rights for women.
The bill, titled “Gender Parity and Prohibition of Violence against Women,” was put forward by Senator Abiodun Olujimi, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District but was rejected at the Senate’s plenary session on Tuesday, 15th March.
Commenting on the blocked bill, ActionAid’s Country Director, Ojobo Ode Atuluku, said, “I feel a mix of emotions. I’m disappointed that the bill couldn’t scale through the second reading, but at the same time it was expected based on the chauvinistic utterances of some men who are members of the hallowed space, but still fail to recognise basic tenets of equal human rights in society.”
She further said, “I sympathise with the distinguished women senators, who make up only 6.4% of the Senate membership, and appreciate the weight of responsibility they have to carry as women. Nigeria’s female citizens: young, old or in-between, easterner, northerner, southerner, westerner or in-between, Muslims, Christian or otherwise, rural, urban or peri-urban, rich, poor or neither, literate or not – let this rejection be our rallying cry. We have are responsibility to find a common space within which to pitch our voices and provide the source from which our women in public offices and their male allies can draw strength and rejuvenate themselves.”
Speaking on the way forward, the Country Director said, “ActionAid is calling for an electronic system through which the public can see the voting patterns of their senators. Also, we call on all Nigerian women to build their consciousness about what the rejected bill means to them as women in particular, and the development of the country in general. It is either women’s rights are fully recognised, respected, fulfilled and protected; or Nigeria’s development continues to be an anomaly.”
She added, “We encourage women to remain resolute in the quest to achieve gender equality.”
ActionAid Nigeria is a human rights and anti-poverty agency.