Gender-inclusive bills: Don’t give up, Nnamani tells Nigerian women

Miffed by the rejection of the gender-inclusive bills by the National Assembly, former Governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani has urged Nigerian women not to give up the struggle but be further spurred to mobilise towards its actualisation in due course.

The Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial district gave the admonition at the weekend in a statement.

He said he was of the view that Nigerian women should rather begin the sensitisation and mobilisation towards the passage of the bills from the grassroots rather than making the battle an elitist struggle.

Senator Nnamani who is the only male Senator in the Women Affairs Committee in the parliament said women’s rights need to be given due attention because “Women’s rights are also human rights.”

Five bills including those which sought to grant citizenship to foreign husbands of Nigerian women create special seats for women in the National and state houses of Assembly and the allocation of 35 per cent of political appointments to women were rejected by the federal lawmakers during consideration of the constitutional amendments.

Nigerian women under various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had taken to the streets to protest against the rejection of the bills and vowed to vote against identified lawmakers opposed to the bills in the forthcoming elections.

The former Enugu State Governor told the women not to give up the struggle because there is still a window for consideration of the bills saying “all you need to do is to go back to the drawing board and strengthen your mobilization from the grass root to the top. Time is now!”

Senator Nnamani advised that the bills be fine-tuned to expunge mundane issues preparatory for representation saying “If we desire development, we need to encourage and empower women as partners in the voyage.”

The former governor of Enugu state further maintained that “it is time for the society to rise up against barriers militating against women’s advancement in the country.”

He listed some of the barriers against women to include; abysmal maternal mortality, horrendous child mortality, female genital mutilation, child trafficking, rape, poor girl child education and early marriages.

Senator Nnamani also identified attendant obstetrical accidents, educational institutions abuse, workplace harassment, unequal pay for equal work, social denigration and political exclusion as ills against women in Nigeria.

He promised to continue the advocacy for women’s liberation and advancement till the harmful cultural practices against them are actualised.

In the 8th Senate under Senator Bukola Saraki, a similar proposal; “Gender Equality Bill” to give women equal opportunities like their male counterparts sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi was also rejected.

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