NGOs advocate participation of women in public, political leadership

Baobab for Women’s Human Rights (BAOBAB), in partnership with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), has advocated for full and meaningful participation of women in public and political leadership in Nigeria.

The two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) made this call on Tuesday in Ibadan during a regional strategic workshop on women’s participation in public and political life in Southwest Nigeria themed ‘From margins to mainstream: Improving women’s political participation in Nigeria’.

In attendance were women from all walks of life who have served ─ or still serving ─ in private, public, and political offices. Among them were former legislative members, former commissioners, former local government council leaders, former advisers of governors and political office holders, political party leaders, teachers and lecturers, founders and leaders of NGOs, members of advocacy groups and civil society organisations (CSOs), among others.

The Executive Director of BAOBAB, Mrs Yeye Dipo-Salami, in her opening remarks, stated that the essence of the workshop was to address the underrepresentation of women in local and national politics.

Dipo-Salami laminated that everywhere one goes or looks ─ from elective to selective political offices ─ women are almost not in existence. She added that this is one of the reasons why Nigeria is not growing and developing like some African countries where women’s political participation is high.

“Politics is not for the faint-hearted. When it comes to women in politics, there is nothing we have not seen. 2027 is coming. How do we get more women in elective offices? Let women get there first, then we will talk about good governance and doing it right,” she said.

In light of this, Dipo-Salami stressed that it was time women played politics like men, leveraged the merits of godmotherism, and planned strategically for next year’s local government elections and the 2027 general elections.

The In-Region Gender Advisor (gender, women, and democracy) at NDI, Dr Roselynn Musa, stated that the workshop is the first in the series and will extend to other regions and states in the country in subsequent times.

Musa stated that Nigeria has one of the lowest numbers of women in parliament in Africa. She added that it is ironic that Nigeria, the giant of Africa, is also the giant when it comes to low participation of women in politics.

“As we prepare for the 2027 elections, let us see what we can do differently or reinforce what we have done before that will ensure we do not miss the opportunity of getting special seats for women,” she said.

The Programme Director of BAOBAB, Ms Anne Lawal, and the Project Officer of BAOBAB, Ms Nnedi Ugwu spoke on the theme and mission of the workshop.

Ms Lawal spoke extensively on the organisation’s project, ‘She Persists ─ Nigeria Project’, while Ms Ugwu spoke on the essence of the workshop.

They stated that the strategies and the recommendations from the workshop will be used to create a national action plan executable within a reasonable time frame.

Ms Chibogu Obinwa, a gender and development consultant, spoke on ‘Understanding the political landscape in Nigeria’.

Obinwa showed statistics on the current state of women’s political participation and leadership in Nigeria and elaborated on the framework for advancing such issues.

One of the data she displayed showed that women occupy only 48 seats out of the 988 state assembly seats in the 36 states of the country (4.8 per cent); and 14 states, constituting 38.89 per cent, do not have a single woman in their legislative arms of government.

Obinwa lamented that it is at party-level politics that women are excluded from meaningful political engagements, adding, “If your party does not support you, how can you contest for elections?”

In the course of the discussions and deliberations, the women identified some of the challenges and barriers hindering them from fully and actively participating in politics.

Some of the challenges included gender bias, stigmatisation, sexual harassment, lack of information and political orientation, lack of mentorship and family support, violence and intimidation, funding and finance, social and cultural norms, sentiment, exclusion, and discrimination, among others.
At the end of the deliberations, the women produced an action plan, executable within three months to one year.

Some of the plans include advocacy visits to influential women and people in politics, mentorship and support for younger women, networking and cross-carpeting, campaign and fund support, partnership with advocacy organisations, inclusion of women with disabilities, legal demand for political reforms, advocacy through education and socio-political events, partnership with the media, among others.

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