Women deserve more politically

August 30, 2016

We have lots of issues that need to be addressed, particularly those that affect women and their children. Over the years, men have enjoyed absolute grip on Nigeria’s political affairs, despite the fact that women constitute a significant bloc of the voting population.

However, if we really want to make a difference in our politics, women need to make up 50 per cent of the cabinet at the local, state and federal levels. The meaning of this is that we want more women to be visible in our politics.

We want more women local government chairs, commissioners, ministers, ambassadors, and even president. It is often said that women are compassionate beings, and they take that passion to whatever they are doing. Therefore, when more women are in positions of authority, things will change for the better in this country. Nigeria has been ruled by men since inception, and we can see where they have brought our country today.

Now is the time for women to start working towards the 2019 general election; if women can vote for only women candidates, then we should have a female president and several female governors, and when this happens, we should be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in a short period of time.

Therefore, this is the time for women to start the mass mobilisation of women; we don’t need to be politicians before we begin to sensitise fellow women on the need to have more women in positions of authority.

Female doctors should tell their female clients, while hairdressers and other artisans should also inform their clients. When we start this movement now, we can bring about a revolution in the country’s political space in 2019.

When Barack Obama began his movement for the highest office in the United States, nobody ever gave him a chance; he, however, knew that nothing is impossible to achieve, and today, he is the first black president of the world’s most sophisticated country.

Nigerian women should also see hope in the future; we can do it if we put our minds to it, and our country will be great if more women can attain public offices.