By Nnedinso Ogaziechi
Politics is said to be a game. Ironically, in developing countries like Nigeria, the politics played often continually turn out a losing game for women during elections. However, women do not really lose at elections. They actually lose during party primaries from the ward level to the highest office in the land. Somehow, both the women in politics and the men often do not realize that fairness in the democratic processes ought to start from the smallest unit and must be all inclusive.
It is ironic that the only fairness that that comes to mind in the practice of democracy in a country like Nigeria seems to be solely about men achieving their goals politically. The other half of the voting public, the women almost always lose at basic levels of democratic practice. The idea of fairness does not seem to include women and their rights to play on a level playing field.
Even though the political odyssey of women tends to be global, the Nigerian situation given the population and level of development seems very dire. The 1995 Beijing Conference with the 35% affirmative action was a global issue but from records, most Nigerian governments seem to have ignored that even when Nigeria was a signatory. The very abysmally low presence of women in governance in Nigeria says a lot about the political space.
The Roundtable Conversation concerned about development and its variables spoke to Ignatius Nicholas Essien, a retired civil servant in Akwa Ibom state. To him, a lot of reorientation and reorganizations need to happen in the political party structure in the country. As it is, it does seem that the political parties are merely stepping stones for the politicians to grandstand as there seem to be no serious ideological convictions.
The idea of politicians just defecting to other parties at the drop of a hat shows that they do not understand that party politics is about ideologies. The ease with which politicians switch political parties shows their understanding of democracy. Moving from one political party to the other and sometimes back to the original political party shows a lack of seriousness and presents the politicians as merely interested in the political expediencies.
There must be stability in the in the political parties for politicians to truly sit down and plan along a given ideology that can develop the country. There is value in politicians following a marked ideological process that stands them out. In that case, they would know that their ideology as a political party provides the guidelines for them at all tiers of government. The lack of ideological grounding of our politicians makes it look like they are in the business for self-aggrandizement and financial security.
When the focus is about personal economic well-being, then the nation suffers because no politician can be cautioned if he or she deviates from a known ideological leaning. It is difficult to have a direction in politics if the political parties just have manifestoes just for the purposes of elections and not necessarily as embodying their ideological convictions. When this happens, the people suffer because then service becomes a scarce commodity. Participation in politics must be about service to the people he said.
The role of political parties must be strengthened if Nigeria is interested in development. The political parties must function well and be about the people and not just about their members and what posts they can grab. The political party system must be strengthened in ways that politics becomes more admirable for competent people to begin to join and bring their ideas to the table to help the country develop. The political parties must begin internal sanitization so that more intellectuals can be encouraged to join.
Mr. Essien believes that the disappointment that citizens feel with politicians that force discontent that often leads to social ills. Another area of our national politics that needs attention is female inclusiveness. According to the constitution, each state of the federation must produce one minister. That is a constitutional requirement. Essien believes that there must be a constitutional review to make it mandatory for a certain number of women to be elected to certain positions.
The constitutional review to him is very key because women have gone beyond the old order when it was the duty of women to cook and bear children. The women themselves must wake up and work for it. The men might never willingly give them the chance but they can seize the moment and agitate seriously for a constitutional review that can force not just a level playing field during elections but also influence the delegate elections and party nominations because the exclusion of women actually starts from the election or selection of party delegates that nominate candidates.
To Essien, women must realize that male delegates cannot vote for women except the few that believe that leadership is not about gender but about the capacity and readiness to lead. Women must continue to advocate for constitutional review to right the wrongs. A woman can only be voted for if there is gender balance ab initio. There are very few men that have that understanding to encourage and support women in politics and that can be seen from the very few women that are either elected or appointed in government.
The women too must learn to support each other by speaking with one voice. The women must use the advantage of their numeric strength and insist on being given the chance to play a complimentary role in governance. Unless the women stand up for themselves, their exclusion would continue. Delegate elections should be the focus of women because that is the pillar of elections. Without that, women might not make it. Alternatively, they can make stronger moves to let men realize that they constitute a greater number of voters. With determination, women can change the face of politics and development in Nigeria if they are willing to work as a team.
The story of the very effective women in politics in Nigeria has always shown that when there is a level playing field, most of the women remember the people they are representing in ways that remain indelible in their minds. The recent story of the Bayelsa state councilor, Hon. Onem Tyna Miracle the young lady who assisted in rebuilding a village bridge linking Otuokpoti and otuogon communities in her ward remains a reference point. Growing up in the community, she saw the danger the bridge posed for her communities and was a witness to some women, some even pregnant falling off the shanty bridge is a remarkable story that shows what is possible.
She is clear evidence that masculinity has nothing to do with performance. Since the creation of the state, her ward had always been represented by men but not one single man looked at the bridge that was causing the people their lives. She started rebuilding it with her allocation and even added her car loan. The people have made a Mecca of the place as they sing her praises on the sport on a daily basis.
She was elected because she was allowed a level playing field starting from the lowest level – the ward level. What this implies is that when the roots are straightened out in a democracy, elections are done with fairness and the voice of the people as they say becomes the voice of God. That is the hallmark of democracy.
The Roundtable Conversation believes Nigerians must stop playing the Ostrich by pretending that flawed elections are miracles that happen only at the general elections. The country must begin self-detoxification politically. The system must be scrutinized properly and cleaned up. It is wrong for political parties that are the main vehicles constitutionally enabled to produce candidates to be run in ways that a greater part of the citizens are surreptitiously excluded through obvious means that excludes.
The National Assembly must begin to realistically address issues of constitutional amendments in ways that might not necessarily favour their members but to create an enduring system that their children can be proud to inherit. There must be a re-orientation that can save the system and create a more enduring political system that can guarantee development and save the system from the being the most pre and post -election litigious in the world.
The core of democracy is the ability of the people to choose who leads them and so the system must be that that is done to be fair and just to all. The present system tilts unfavorably against women and no nation that excludes half of its population can make progress. We equally expect the coalition of the political parties to work towards equity rather than their perennial struggle for candidates feeling dissatisfied with big political parties to find refuge in the smaller ones.
Other developed countries might not be running a perfect system but they have a system of checks and balances that keep politicians in line in ways that the constitution is protected and fair to everyone. Elections on its own do not make enduring democracies, the integrity of the system matters. Nigeria must begin to realize the roots of flawed elections. Intra-party democracy is the precursor to viable democracies and it is an achievable goal. Development needs all the diligence that goes with building a nation.
The dialogue continues…
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