Razaq Bamidele
An all-women Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), the Standup for Women Society (SWS) has urged President Bola Tinubu’s leadership to appoint more women to key positions in order to address the need for greater women’s inclusion in the government.
The society highlighted the low representation of women in the recent elections, which resulted in only 15 women out of over 400 selected positions in the red and green chambers of the national assembly.
The International President of the NGO, Barr. Deborah Ijadele-Adetona, expressed this concern in a statement released by the association’s National Public Relations Officer, Avoyi Nwogu, to commemorate Democracy Day.
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Deborah pointed out the glaring gender disparity, citing that the Senate has only two female members, while the House of Representatives has only 13 women serving.
She argued that this underrepresentation of women in governance does not align with the advocacy for increased women’s involvement in government, as envisioned by the Beijing Declaration, which called for at least 35% active women’s participation in government and governance.
“After decades of democracy in Nigeria, women are still largely left in the background, failing to reflect the Beijing affirmation that called for at least 35% active women’s participation in government and governance,” she lamented.
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In the light of this, she therefore appealed to President Bola Tinubu to fulfil his promise to women and ensure their justified representation in active participation in the government of the federal republic of Nigeria.
The SWS International President also called upon the First Lady, Remi Tinubu, to support the campaign for greater women’s presence in government, emphasising that women possess the necessary skills and abilities to govern effectively if given the opportunity to hold sensitive positions, just like their male counterparts.
“Women have all it takes to govern too, provided they are allowed to occupy positions of responsibility,” she added.