Ahead of the 2019 general elections, some media practitioners on Wednesday decried the poor participation of women in politics, using the just concluded primaries of political parties as a yardstick.
They spoke at the maiden edition of the Tweets Conference to commemorate #ReportWomen month by Wole Soyinka Center for Investigation Journalism (WSCIJ), held in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the conference is “Election 2019: Where do women stand?’’
Mrs Tolulope Adeleru-Balogun, an award winning Radio/TV host said that the 2019 election did not look good for women in politics.
She said that according to the fact sheet of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) since 1999, women had not reached 15 per cent representation.
She said that in the 6th assembly in 2007, only 25 females were elected, in the 7th assembly in 2011, 30 females were elected, while in the 8th assembly in 2015, 32 females were elected.
“Continuing from there, out of 109 Senate seats, women occupied 3 in 1999, 4 in 2003, 9 in 2007, and 7 in 2011 and 2015.
“Out of the 360 seats in the House of Representatives, women represented 12 in 1999, 21 in 2003, 25 in 2007, 26 in 2011 and 22 in 2015,” she said.
She said that the highest elected political office women had attained in Nigeria was a deputy governor.
“This is a serious indictment on our political process. Winning is a different kettle of fish, but to win you must participate,” she added.
However, Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, Senior Editor with the Nation Newspaper said that women should look beyond the 30 per cent affirmative action.
“We need to look closely again at the powers of women in politics. Not just the 30 per cent affirmative action but also look at the policies of the current political parties in respect to female representation.
“Countries like Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda have even moved beyond Nigeria in terms of women representation and we have to wake up to this reality.
“If Nigeria wants real development, we need to allow them get elected into political office,” he said.
Mrs Motunrayo Alaka, Coordinator WSCIJ said that women must properly understand that politics starts from the grassroots and women must go back to the base.
“Politics is local. Women who wish to go into it must understand that, to be independent they need to have a strong base at the grassroots.
“The people do the voting. People need to know and appreciate what you are offering to vote for you.
“There is a tendency for us as women to be hoping that some generous ‘godfather’ gives us power. Usually, people who give power hold on to it for control. Power is scarcely given, it is taken.
“Governance is also beyond politics. It is about using scarce resources to meet the growing needs of the people.
“You need to know the people to meet their needs. Separating people from governance is the reason Nigeria is in this mess,” she said.
Mr Yanju uwala, a blogger said that women should be given the opportunity because they are better leaders.
“I believe women would be good leaders if given the chance, but they don’t even know this themselves, that’s why they often rely on men to do it, they need to free themselves from these shackles.
“Another reason why women are not showing much participation in politics is because of the gender discrimination, the party will rather give ticket to a male than the female, since they believe she might not cooperate,” he said.
