ABUJA – Prof. Bonny Ibhawoh of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, McMaster University, Canada on Wednesday called for increased women and youth participation in Nigeria’s governance.
Ibhawoh made the call in an interview with the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
The don said that the call because while a country such as Rwanda had up to 56 per cent women participation in governance, Nigeria had only about five per cent.
“So we need to involve women more in our politics and what that means is that we have to change the structure of our politics.
“That is not a government thing; that is a grassroots thing; when political meetings begin in the night, at 1am, you can’t have women there.
“There has to be more transparency.
“So I think every political party, every civil society group should begin to think about how to get more women in politics.
“We can’t just wait for the government.”
He urged Nigerian leaders to learn from France’s experience where a 39-year old man, Emmanuel Macron, emerged as president.
He said that in many African countries, Macron would have been considered a juvenile by the aged political elites.
According to him, the Nigerian political elites need to change their mindsets so that youths can become increasingly involved in the governance of the country.
“We should be able to put our young people forward because in the comity of nations, when presidents sit together, the average age is 40.
“We will have to be part of the world; so we need to get our women involved, get our youths involved or we will be left behind and that is the reality of the world today,” he said.
