The theme for the celebration of this year’s International Women’s Day is Inspiring Change. Yetunde Oladeinde assesses the strides recorded as well as some of the challenges facing Nigerian women in politics.
THE first International Women’s Day was held in 1911 and ever since the date has been significant for women all over the world. It is a day to celebrate achievements in the social, political and economic spheres while focusing world attention on areas requiring further action.
At the moment, the 2015 election is around the corner and different interest groups are busy strategising to carve a niche for themselves. Nigerian women, interestingly, have for long been playing crucial roles in the political life of the country, and this has contributed in no small measure in shaping the political system of the nation.
It is, therefore, pertinent to find out how women in politics can inspire change and increase the number of women in elective positions across the country. For Iyabo Anisulowo, “Women are more in politics now, unlike in those days. But there are also categories of women, some are just there to support the men; they sing and dance. While some are activists, agitating for political positions to pull their weight and show that they can also do what the men are doing.
“But because of lack of enough education, the women have not been able to occupy some of these positions. We want more women to contest election, even if they are not going to win, at least people will know that we tried to wrestle power from the men. But we are improving now.”
She added that “Politics is also very expensive to play and most women are poor. For instance, when we go for rallies, you have to pay for buses to convey your supporters, cook food, among other things. In developed countries, it is not like that. You can interact with your people through the use of technology. Women are not also violent in nature. Politics now involves thuggery and the usage of arms, and only a few women can withstand that.”
It is also important to look at the women who have made a mark against the odds. One of such women is Chris Anyanwu, a politician and journalist, who has recorded a number of milestones. The achievements came with a number of obstacles like her incarceration during the Abacha regime. “I fully realise that my incarceration was a well-calculated plan by General Abacha and a certain misogynist clique in the ruling circle to force me out of the profession and by it send a strong signal to the female elite that there are limits for women in this society. The tragic demise of the only other female publisher and the gory murder of three outstanding and outspoken women in the country during this same period all fit into this pattern of behaviour,” she said.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State, is another politician and journalist who has set a pace for many. In the House, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa is distinguishing herself by working tirelessly as she sponsored a bill that would grant freedom to practice journalism after a certain qualification.
Professor Dora Akunyili, former Director General of NAFDAC and politician, is another amazon that comes to mind. In year 2010, she resigned her appointment as the minister of information in the President Jonathan cabinet and decided to pick a senatorial form on the platform of APGA in Anambra State to contest for a seat in the upper federal legislative chamber in the 2011general elections. Unfortunately, she was not successful at the polls.
During the 2011 presidential election, Sarah Jubril stood out as the only woman who challenged President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the presidential flag of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
And across the 63 political parties, she was the only woman who struggled to occupy the Aso Rock seat of power.
According to Jubril, “Women had been grossly marginalised in the power-sharing arrangement, with no woman occupying the nation’s highest office since independence in 1960.And this is in spite of the fact that women account for about 51% of the voting population of the country. The highest office a woman has occupied is Speaker of the House of Representatives, which Hon. Patricia Etteh held for four months and 26 days between June and October 2007 before she was compelled to quit over alleged graft.”
A veteran presidential aspirant of sorts and in her early 60s, Jubril’s presidential ambition dates back to 1992. She was an aspirant in the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP, in the botched Third Republic. She also aspired in 1998 on the platform of the PDP and lost the presidential ticket to Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who went on to win the polls.
Despite the difficulties faced by women in politics, they continue with their political ambition, contributing enormously to the political and national development in their own way as the challenges militating against them are not present, although Nigeria is yet to have a female president. Women over the years could be said to have recorded
some measure of appreciable political achievement in other political fields of endeavours, meeting their political objectives with limited support and resources at their disposal.
In 1957, during the pre-independence era of Nigeria, a couple of women political activists such as Mrs. Margaret Ekpo, Mrs. Janet Mokelu and Ms. Young were members of the Eastern House of Assembly. The late Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, though not a full-fledged politician, was a very strong force to reckon with in the politics of the Western Region.
Hajia Gambo Sawaba also waged a fierce battle for the political and cultural emancipation of women in the north. One can say that women have always played viable political roles in Nigeria in spite of all the limitations and encumbrances. In addition, the Babangida era marked a turning point in the history of women struggle in Nigeria, when Maryam Babangida institutionalised the office of the first lady in 1987.
