By Dayo Johnson, Akure

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said that political parties in the country, should allocate 30 percent quota of their candidates to women, so as to bridge the gender gap in the political space.

Wike said this at the 4th Foundation For Wives Of Ondo State Officials, FOWOSO Summit, held in Akure, the Ondo state capital.

He also donated N200 million to the foundation which was formed in 2017 by the Ondo state First Lady, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu.

Speaking through the state’s Head of Service, Rufus Godwin, the governor, also asked the women to mobilize their votes for all viable women candidates in the forthcoming 2023 general elections in the country.

The summit’s theme is “Bridging the gender gap in the political arena, a case of Nigerian women”.

Wike said there was a need to “reconstruct the constitutional, legal and policy frameworks to accommodate equitable guarantees and an allocation of at least a 30 percent quota for the candidates of all political parties to be women. 

” So, for me, the starting point is to break the structural barriers that reinforce discriminatory cultural beliefs, practices, and policies against women and girls through legislation, policy reforms, and other targeted measures to accelerate access to education and economic and political empowerment.

“With good education and economic empowerment women can fully and equally compete for available political opportunities with men and triumph rather than waiting to be patronized based on sheer sympathy and pity. 

“This is more so in our situation where there is lack of equality of political arms between men and women due to age-long neglect and denial of the social, economic, and political rights of women.”

“As I opposed and spoke against the rejection of those bills by the National Assembly, so I’m ready and willing to support our women in advancing their fundamental rights of a robust and equitable political representation of all levels of governance.

He, however, said the government and the ruling party, should take the relevant measures to change the status quo for a more progressive, participation and accommodation of women in politics and governance.

The wife of the state governor and founder of the foundation, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu said that the foundation was formed to elevate “the socioeconomic status of women as opposed to the absurd style of engaging the women in tokenism and hiring them as hailers to launder men’s ego. 

 ” To resist women’s equitable participation in politics and leadership even in the face of these successes is to encourage the proverbial ill wind that blows nobody any good.”

 ” Our performances are both concrete and measurable; they are no less evident in the number of women whose lives have been transformed through this noble initiative

” We have succeeded in getting the government signed into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) bill; we have frontally fought gender violations in the state to the extent that the offense is now dreaded as against offenders being a threat to our women and girls.

“We have improved the number of women in appointive and elective positions and made history to have gotten the first female Secretary to the State Government in the 46 years of statehood.

Akeredolu noted that ” The astounding scorecard of FOWOSO speaks loudly and convincingly to the urgent need to bridge the gender gap in Nigeria’s political space. 

Speaking, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, said that “the various programs and initiatives of Betty have unlocked great potentials of women and girls in the state and beyond.

Represented by his deputy,  Lucky Ayedatiwa, Akeredolu said that Anyanwu-Akeredolu’s contributions would be indelible in the hearts of people in the state.