Gender activist decries rejection of bill seeking special seats for women

A gender activist, Ms Ayodeji Fadugba, on Monday decried the rejection of a bill seeking to reserve special seats for Women at the National and State Houses of Assembly.

Fadugba of Womannifesto, a gender-based NGO, however, called for social, political, cultural balance among the men and women in the nation’s political structure.

She expressed her regret in Ibadan at a sensitisation programme organised by the Women Research and Documentation Centre (WODOC), Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, to celebrate the 2022 International Women’s
Day.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that theme of the programme was, “Gender Eqaulity, Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”.

It was organised in partnership with the Centre for Applied Ethics for Political Communication in Africa (CAEPCOM Africa) and Zion
Care Life Family Foundation (ZCLFF).

NAN recalls that the bill is entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide For Special Seats for Women at the National and State Houses of Assembly.”

Eight-one members of the House of Representatives voted in favour of the bill, while 208 voted against it and 13 members abstained from voting.

Fadugba said the time to put an end to the bias of political domination by men was now.

According to her, a situation in which women or wives are not allowed to be voted for in their husbands’ communities is a form of insensitivity.

“Nigerian wives should naturally be entitled to every right, including political opportunities in their husbands’ communities.

“Whenever men want to deprive us of our political rights, they tell us to go to our villages if we are interested in any political office.

“For instance, if I am from Ekiti State and married to a man from Osun State, I will be compelled to go back to my village in Ekiti in order to realise my ambition.

“To this end, we, Nigerian women, need a Constitution that can cater for our needs and provisions of law that can meet our yawnings,” Fadugba said.

Lending her voice, Mrs Bolaji Akanni, a non-academic staff of the Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, called for the equitable distribution of resources between men and women in Nigeria.

Akanni said that the current laws governing women’s actions and affairs
were made by men and did not meet the expectations of the womenfolk.

“The people that make our laws are men; do they feel what we feel? Do they see what we see?

“Unfortunately, our culture and religions have been negatively explored to relegate
women to the background,” Akanni said.

Another participant, Mrs Alaba Ehindero, identified the need to ensure gender equity today for a sustainable tomorrow.

Ehindero called for the review of the Nigerian Constitution to address all the social, political and cultural imbalances, which, according to her, had stagnated women’s development in the society.

In his presentation, Dr Mutiu Agboke, the Chairman, Oyo State Independent Electoral
Commission, advised women to first secure their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

Agboke, represented by Mrs Catherine Ogwu, said that their political rights, as women, would be well expressed when they all hold their PVCs.

He said that this would enable them to vote for candidates of their choices. (NAN)