IN federal appointments, there were only five female ministers against 40 male ministers. Also, 86 women as against 297 men were appointed into the boards of federal agencies while women constituted a paltry 11.9% of ambassadorial appointments (Nnaji, 60). There was a little improvement in 2003 with women in States’ Houses of Assembly increasing to 39 as against 951 men, 21 female members in the House of Representatives as against 339 men and four female senators as against 105 men.
Again, there was no female governor but there were two female deputy governors, in Osun and Plateau States. There were 38 women in Houses of Assembly as against 952 men. In 2007, there were eight female senators as against 101 men, 26 women in the House of Representatives as against 334 men, no female governor, six female deputy governors and 54 female members in the Houses of Assembly against 936 male members. In fact, women constituted 11% of all candidates in the election but constituted occupied only 7.5% of all elective and appointive offices after the election. (Igbuzor, 2012)The figures were the same in the 2011 elections except for the Houses of Assembly that had 62 female members. At present, there are seven women in the Senate, 19 in the House of Representatives, no female governor and four deputy governors. In summary, the percentage of women placement in the executive and legislative arms of government between 1999 and today hovers between 7 and 11 percent. The only significant rise in women’s involvement in government was under President Goodluck Jonathan when women occupied 33 percent of cabinet positions (Igbuzor, 2012).The percentage of women in cabinet offices has plummeted to 19% today. The Nigerian scorecard is a poor showing even by African standard. In Rwanda, women constitute 63.5% of the lower legislative house and 38.5% of the upper house. In Senegal, women constitute 42.7% of the legislature, 36.4 % in Burundi and 35.2 % of the upper legislative house in South Africa. Except for the brief period under Jonathan, women’s placement in government fell short of the recommendation of the fourth World Conference on Women otherwise called the Beijing Conference of 30% and the Nigeria’s National Gender Policy which stipulates 35% of appointive office for women.
iv Reasons for Women’s inadequate representation in politics and government
Three set of factors have been identified as being responsible for low women participation in politics and government (Stacy and Price, 1981).
The first set of factors are the ones related to a woman’s biological functions as a mother which confines her to the homestead and reduce her ability to be active politically like her male counterpart.(Orum et al: 1974)
The second set are structural constraints which are important societal institutions like the economy, education and law which reduce the ability of women to participate in politics in a comparable way to her male counterpart(Kraus,1974).Women face a big financial hurdle in politics (Akande and Ajisebiyawo,2016). About 70% of the 1.3billion people living in abject poverty in the world are women. In Nigeria women own less than 2% of land, which is a major factor of production.60-79% of the rural work force in Nigeria are women but are 70% more likely to own the land. Even in the formal sector, although women constitute 24% of the federal civil service, they occupy less than 14% of management positions. These disparities affect women’s ability to compete fairly for political power.
The third set of factors which are socialization factors assign political roles to men rather than to women. In essence, norms and roles that were learnt early in life constrain the free participation of women in politics (Stacy and Price, 1981).
This combination of factors put women at a disadvantage in the politics and government of most developing societies including Nigeria.
In the next section, I list a number of recommendations that could help address the problem as identified above.
- Recommendations
It is noteworthy that Nigerian laws and policy documents contain enough provisions that guarantee the equal and active participation of women in politics and in government. The challenge is to have governments that possess the political will to execute those policies and enforce the laws to give live to those provisions. In addition to extant policies like the waiver given to women from paying nomination fee for political offices, creation of the position of women leaders in the political parties and inclusion of at least a woman in party committees at the ward, local, state and federal levels, the following recommendations will strengthen women to adequately participate in politics.
Make Constitutional provisions for affirmative action on women’s involvement in government. The Nigeria Gender Policy of 2002 stipulates that 35% of appointive offices would be reserved for women. We should move beyond the policy document to enshrine the provisions in our constitution. We should also make the provision to cover elective offices as well. The Nigerian Law made provisions that the federal cabinet must include at least a member from each state of the federation. This is to guarantee an inclusive government involving all states of the federation. The states and ethnic nationalities are social formations that are neither natural nor permanent. In contrast, male/female differentiation is natural and permanent. Why can’t we make constitutional provisions to accommodate the natural differences represented by men and women? We should make constitutional provisions for affirmative action which stipulates that 35% of the legislative houses and executive councils should be made up of women. This will translate to at least one woman senator per state. In a state like Oyo State that has 14 members in the House of Representatives, this will translate to about five women of Oyo State origin in the House of Representatives and 10 women members in the 32- member Oyo State House of Assembly. The importance of this provision is that it has been established across the world that governments that have adequate representatives of women are more responsive to issues of women, children, family and social development. It is needless to say that any government that is committed to these values will be a successful government. The logic therefore is: to have a successful government, involve more women in government.
A major source of women’s inability to contest fairly for political offices is their near total absence in the leadership cadre of political parties. The affirmative action for women’s involvement in government should be extended to the leadership of political parties. This is the only guarantee that women will have a fair deal in the parties which are the platforms on which politicians contest elective offices.
Finally, the advocacy for the rights of women and their active participation and involvement in politics and government must be sustained until the goal of adequate representation is achieved. As it is popularly stated, “democracy is never served a la carte”. The goal of adequate women representation in government cannot be achieved unless women and the men who share their concerns fight for it. The quest for female representation is a contest that has taken hundreds of years in many of the established democracies of the world. The case cannot be different in Nigeria especially because many of those who find themselves in government believe it is an invitation to “come and chop.” As the Igbos say, “no man spits out the honey that fortune has placed in his mouth”. The men are not likely to hand over the undue advantage they enjoy in government unless the women claim their rights. Advocacy of women’s rights and occasions like this that honour our heroines are veritable ways of calling attention to this issue of utmost importance. By honouring those who defied the obstacles that the society placed on their path to contribute to national development, we are encouraging other women to widen the narrow path already beaten by heroines like the late Mama H.I.D. Awolowo, the mother of our Ambassador Dr (Mrs) Tokunbo Awolowo Dosumu, who is, herself, a leader in her own rights.
- vi) Conclusion
The inclusion of women in politics and government has proved to be an effective way of mobilising the human resources of any country for national development. This paper established that Nigeria has failed in this regard. It is in the enlightened interest of all of us that women are adequately involved in politics and government for national development. I commend NAWOJ for this event and for bringing this issue once again to the front burner of national discourse. We should not be tired of advocating for adequate women’s involvement in politics and government until we attain the status where women can stand shoulder to shoulder with men in the contest for political power, without any fear of losing due to extraneous factors outside their competence.
I thank you all for your attention.
- Akande, PH.D is a visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.