Why media must support gender-inclusive governance —Experts

NARRATIVES concerning gender inclusiveness have never been in short supply, globally.

The general consensus has been that the feminine gender has not been having her fair share of the global economic, political and social ‘cake’. The world, many believe, is skewed against them, and there is, therefore, an urgent need to address the situation. Interestingly, Nigerian women are not immune to the issue of gender imbalance, both in private and public spaces.

Not a few, therefore, saw the recent webinar on gender inclusive governance, organised by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), as not only timely and auspicious and also as representing a conscious effort at addressing such imbalance.

Speaking at the webinar, the Founder /CEO of TheCable Newspapers and Chairman of the Akin Fadeyi Foundation, Mr Simon Kolawole, believes there is the need for constant engagement around the issue of gender inclusiveness; hence the webinar. He  expressed sadness that Nigeria still continues to talk about gender imbalance, at a time many countries now discuss gender parity.

He lamented the glaring absence of female activists in governance, economy and even politics, which was rife in this part of the world in the olden days.

“Perhaps one evidence of this dying activism, in Nigeria,  is the fact that there are no female presidential candidates, out of all the candidates vying for the nation’s presidency in 2023, unlike in 2019, when we had about five of them, participating in the exercise. What can we say has gone wrong?” he asked rhetorically.

But, another speaker, Mrs Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, would rather attribute this to the highly patriarchal culture practised in this part of the globe.

This development, she argued, had made the odds heavily stacked against Nigerian women. Olateju,  however, stressed the need for women to have organised structures that would enable them to push their cause.

“As a woman, we must use our offices to push into the front-burner, issues that have to do with women in the country,” she stated.

In his contribution, the Coordinator of the African Centre for Media and Literacy (AFRICMIL), Dr Chido Onumah, argued that gender inclusive governance would be achieved when the society is deliberate and intentional when it comes to giving women crucial roles to play.

“For me, the women must be involved when crucial issues such as restructuring, power reforms and other government policies are being discussed,” he stated.

Onumah would also want the nation’s media to be more supportive of the feminine cause, arguing that, of late, the female folk had not been getting many positive narratives from the media.

He berated some of the nation’s media organisations for making reference to Funke Akindele’s marital issue, immediately the actress made her political ambition known to the public.

“I think the narratives about women from the nation’s media have been terrible. They need to be more supportive. Interestingly, I see this as a reflection of the attitude of the larger society to the nation’s womenfolk,” he added.

Explaining the rationale behind the discourse, the convener of the event, and Executive Director, Akin Fadeyi Foundation, Mr Akin Fadeyi, stated that besides being used to strengthen advocacy around feminine issues, the webinar also provided the opportunity for the Foundation to launch its new initiative, ‘What Women Can Do Competition’.

He stated that the competition is designed to highlight women’s crucial roles in society, and their contributions, adding that winners of the competition would be recognised and adequately rewarded.