Speaking while presenting a paper titled, “Nigeria Democracy and the Journey so far: The role of women,’’ at the 70th Birthday celebration of Iyom Josephine Anenih, former Minister of Women Affairs, in Abuja on Tuesday, he called for constitution amendment to make it mandatory to reserve 40 per cent of the seats for women.
He said: “Our Constitution should be amended to allow 40 per cent of women participation in politics; it is about time that women should feature in all aspect of our democratic process and practice.
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“The health of our democracy can be judged by the participation of women; the low number of women in National Assembly is unacceptable and makes mockery of gender balance.”
The former president, who described democracy as the best form of government for Nigeria as according to him, it promotes unity, however noted that even though Nigeria’s democracy is alive, it is not healthy.
According to him: “democracy is a system of government that allows team spirit and debate before decisions are reached; it is a government for all citizens to benefit without fear or favour.”
The former president congratulated Anenih who was the National Woman Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party during his administration on her birthday, noting that she is a woman worth celebrating.
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