Group Decries Low Women Representation In Governance

A non-governmental organisation, Women4Women has expressed dissatisfaction with what it called perennial marginalisation of women in the country’s power equation.

This is even as the group says Nigeria has not made significant effort in reaching the 35 percent affirmative action 25 years after the Beijing Declaration of 1995.

At a meeting in Abuja on Saturday, the group emphasised that despite the visible presence of women in the country’s political environment, they have not been given adequate opportunity to take part in representing the people at various levels of governance.

The National Coordinator Women4Women, Chief Monic Ogom highlighted the need for the women to synergise and support each other even as the 2023 general election fast approaches.

“We have converged to speak in unison for our inclusion in politics and further devising means of being each other’s keeper as well as the women working for themselves. That is the core objective of Women4Women community.

“If you look around the government cycle, we don’t have adequate representation of women in appointive positions. We are acting as a pressure group to pressure the government to ensure that women are included in everything that has to do with governance.

“We are not happy that when elections come, women are used to secure victories but when time for appointment comes, they are relegated to the background.

“Basically we are not asking to be shoulder to shoulder with men. We want to be given a minimum of 40 percent representation while the men can have 60 percent. I think that is a fair deal.

“The Beijing 35 percent affirmative action has not taken full effect in Nigeria. Only few states, particularly Cross River is giving women a relatively fair representation” she said.

Chief Ogom while underlining the readiness of Women4Women to take the campaign of inclusion to the grassroot insisted that the women have the leadership and managerial skill to take the country out of administrative quagmire.

The former House of Representatives candidate expressed dissatisfaction that the male factor in the administration of political parties has further dwarfed adequate representation of women in the country’s political equation, maintaining that a level playing field within various political platforms is key to women virile participation.

In her comment, the FCT coordinator Women4Women, Hajia Binta Ibrahim described women as partners in progress, dispelling insinuations that they are enemies of themselves.

“The man may not know where it pinches. We as home and economic managers, we understand the problems and the solutions. We know how to forge ahead to get it right and we are committed to it.

“We are telling the world that behind every successful woman, there are women. The issue of finding is what we are pushing within the political parties and we understand that in some cases, women enjoy a reduction in cost of purchasing these forms and we will take it beyond that.

“Women4Women is willing to support any woman with good intentions to vie for any position. We are obviously not satisfied with the percentage of women in government at all levels” she stated.

Hajia Ibrahim called on women across the country to do away with their differences and lend support to each other to further advance their well-being in the society.