BY Josephine Igbinovia-Agbonkhese

While the Nigerian constitution vetoes in clear terms any form discrimination on the basis of gender, the representation of its women in government has suffered great opposition. This is in spite of reports of women in several Third World countries speeding-up developmental processes for their nations.

Hon. Abike Dabiri

Since the 2011 general elections which unfortunately saw women vacate political seats gained in 2007, Nigerian women have looked forward to 2015 with optimism. Now, with the 2015 general elections only five months away and womenfolk, as it seems, not satisfied with appointive positions, how prepared are they for this much anticipated contest, particularly as their male counterparts have long begun  flexing muscles against one another?

Can the popular 35% affirmative action be smartly employed? Some seasoned politicians and activists bared their minds and suggested pathways to an increased representation of women in governance come 2015.

Idea-driven campaigns important – Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Member, House of Representatives

To succeed in 2015, women politicians must disabuse their mind of the notion of finance being the key to winning elective positions. Agreed, people want you to pay a lot of money to contest elections. But my own approach was: “If you don’t want to vote for me, don’t vote for me. But I know I am going there to work for your development”. That worked for me because I cannot steal simply because I want to help my people.

So, women must let their campaigns be idea-driven and also be proactive and relevant in their political parties so that they are not undermined. That way, we can have more women in elective positions.

Quota system very essential-Oby Nwankwo, activist

Nigeria must adopt quota system if the affirmative action must be implemented, especially as we look forward to 2015. In Uganda for instance, seats are specially reserved for women and only women contest for those sits. The Justice Uwais report recommended a proportional representation but that was unfortunately ignored. In Cross River State however, twinning system has been implemented to ensure that if, for example, the governorship candidate is a male, the deputy is a female. That way, more women will come on board.

It’s sad to hear that out of 360 seats at the lower house in the National Assembly, we have only 24 women! Out of a Senate House of 109, we also have only four women! This is in spite of the 2006 National Gender Policy raising the affirmative action to 35% which we still do not have!

Internal democracy needed in political parties-Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, activist

Efforts at getting more women in elective position have not yielded tremendous results because there is no internal democracy in the political parties and this has continued to prevent women from having equal political opportunity.

Though the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has tried to improve on appointive positions for women, it is yet to meet the 35% affirmative action. This was why women delegates at the national conference identified the urgent need for gender mainstreaming and full implementation of the 35% affirmative action. There are, however, efforts going on right now at different levels, engaging political platforms and demanding that political spaces be opened up for the inclusion of more women to contest in the 2015 elections.

Electoral reforms needed for affirmative action- Hon. Nkoyo Toyo, Member, House of Representatives

In every country where an increase in governance has happened for women, the party list was used. So, we’re trying make the 35% affirmative action a reality through subsidiary legislation; not through the constitution. This is because we need electoral reforms for it to ever happen.

We have to go away from elections that are based on majority to the proportional representation system which makes use of party list. In a party list, a party comes up with the list of all its candidates and then goes to election as APC, PDP, or whatever. So, when you’re voting, you’re not voting the individual but the party, which will in turn ensure women comprise 35% of the list created for positions. Now, it is left for voters to look at the party list and decide to vote for whatever party.

Systemic approach vital-Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, activist

There is a need for us to have a common agenda as women, and behind this agenda there is also the need to have the will to move beyond mere discussion. Look at the national conference for example; there were 92 women out of the entire 492 delegates and women are supposed to comprise over half of Nigeria’s population!

We have had round-table discussions, open discussions, and I think it is high time we engaged in a more systematic way as we approach 2015, to be better represented in governance. We need to engage political parties and government because even the National Gender Policy declared 35% affirmative action.