NIGERIA-POLITICS: Come And Vote, But Be Voted For Too

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Nov 28 1996 (IPS) - The spirit of the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference is still very much alive for Nigerian non-governmental women’s groups which have started active campaigns for more political and economic rights.

“Since the beginning of this year, our council has been involved in the mobilisation of women for political and economic empowerment,” said Amina Sambo, Chair of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), the major umbrella organisation of women’s NGOs.

The organisation began its work on the political front and according to Sambo it has already started to see the results. During the local government elections held on a non-partisan basis in March, for example, 80 women were elected as councillors and nine women were elected as heads of local governments.

Sambo pointed to this marked increase as the fruits of the organisation’s activism to get more women in political positions.

To sustain the tempo, she said, the NCWS plans to raise funds for women who are interested in politics. Women often steer clear of politics, because of the monies needed for an election campaign.

“This way, the Council(NCWS) will be seen to be practically and financially involved in getting women into policy-making positions through the elective process,” Sambo said.

Already, women contesting the forthcoming local government elections on a party basis in the Western state of Ogun have launched a 20 million naira (about 250,000 u.s. dollars) appeal to raise money to assist their individual campaigns.

The campaign’s co-ordinator, Titilayo Ajanaku, said the launching is one in a series of awareness and education programmes for women.

Ajanaku noted that the Women in Politics Association in Ogun was jolted by the result of the last non-party elections in the state when no woman contested for the top seat in any of the 15 councils.

But more women are set to feature prominently in the next round of elections. For example, the Congress for National Consensus (CNC), one of the five newly registered parties, has women chairs in three western states – Lagos, Oyo and the newly-created state of Ekiti.

In Lagos, CNC chair Dayo Perera-Nwachukwu, holds meetings regularly with women representatives from each local government of the state, as part of the party’s mass mobilisation of women around politics.

“We have been encouraging all women to come out. We have been left behind politically. Women are the workaholics, they can penetrate the grassroots easily. This time we are telling them not only to come and vote, but be voted for,” she told journalists at the weekend.

“Already, a lot of women are coming out to vie for councillorship and chairmanship positions in the local government elections scheduled for later in the year,” she said.

Reports from the predominantly Muslim north, where culture and religion have pushed women behind the scene, show that women are also beginning to organise for more participation in the affairs of the state, and for an end to traditional practices which violate women’s human rights.

Social scientist Ali Muhammed, believes that culture and religion have adversely affected women nationwide. “Men are not specifically going out to frustrate women. Culture and religion, rather than the attitudes of men are responsible for women’s predicament in this country,” he said.

At a recent workshop by women in the northern city of Kaduna, participants called for the government’s support against early marriage and other discriminatory practices.

Early marriage has become a serious development issue for women in the north where there is a large withdrawal of girls from school.

According to official statistics, the national total male enrolment in primary schools in 1992 was 8.3 million while that of females was put at 6.5 million. The ratio of boys to girls in primary schools differs from region to region with the north recording 70 percent males to 30 percent females.

Women in the north have also taken their action beyond the conference halls. For example, women contractors in the northern state of Taraba recently staged a protest against the denial of job contracts to them, because of cultural and religious values.

“Women can execute projects better than men if given the chance. Women contractors should be accorded recognition by the state government to enable them to contribute to the development of the state,” said Lami Belti, chair of the Association of Women Contractors.

Moshood Akanbi, a former managing director of an oil company, said at a seminar in the western city of Ibadan that when given a chance, women get the job done. “…If women are given more prominent roles to play, things will definitely take a turn for the better.”