The National Assembly, NASS, last week, rejected a Bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the 1999 constitution to provide for affirmative action and increased participation of women in government.
There had been moves via a bill at the NASS “For an Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for special seats for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly; and for related matters.’’
However, the lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 1, rejected the bill.
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While 208 lawmakers voted against, 81 voted in favour of the bill and 13 abstained from voting.
Before this day, the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari, among other prominent women, had been to the NASS and lobbied the lawmakers, who assured her of support. On the day the bill was eventually shot down, the wife of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, was physically present in the chambers, as if to remind the lawmakers of their promise. She was at the NASS with the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, Civil Society Organisations and some women groups.
Nevertheless, the lawmakers could not budge; they killed the bill.
This has elicited wild outcry by Nigerian women groups, who stormed the National Assembly, blocking the gate, leading to the NASS complex on Tuesday, March 2. The protesters expressed anger and disappointment with the rejection of the gender bills and accused the 9th Senate of relegating women without considering their contributions to governance. They further argued that the rejection had denied women the opportunity to be included and be represented in governance and accused the lawmakers of denying women basic rights. Therefore, they urged lawmakers to revisit the bill and pass it as quickly as possible.
In fact, women reeled out a catalogue of affronts by the NASS against women, such as denying citizenship to a foreign-born husband of a Nigerian woman while allowing Nigerian men’s foreign-born wives to be awarded automatic citizenship; denying 35% appointed positions for women and settling for 20%; denying women affirmative action in party administration and leadership; denying specific seats for women in the National Assembly, among others.
Indeed, Nigeria has very few women participating in politics. Only seven out of 109 senators and 22 of the 360 House of Representatives members are women. And only four out of 36 deputy governors are women. The country has never had an elected woman president or state governor; Senate president or Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Some countries have reserved seats for women. In 2003, for instance, Rwanda adopted a new constitution that reserves 30 per cent of parliamentary seats for women and requires political parties to ensure that women hold at least 30 per cent of elected internal positions. The same goes for France and 48 other countries, which statutorily reserved seats for women.
Globally, many countries have reserved seats for women in their parliaments. Spain has a legal provision that candidates presented for electoral positions must comprise, at least, 40 per cent of each sex. In Mexico, there is also a voluntary quota system that consists of at least 40 per cent of the same gender at the party level. It also has legislated quotas at the legislative level.
The problem with Nigeria is that women do not even trust one another. Moreover, many women fail to venture into politics because of the fear of rejection by society due to socio-cultural limitations as well as the violence associated with politics. Our society is patriarchal and hardly do men allow their women to hug the limelight, coupled with the timing of most political meetings. As is the norm here, politicians love meeting at night and ungodly hours like witches and wizards and this impedes the participation of women because they can hardly go out at such hours nor be allowed to by their families.
This cultural limitation was confirmed by the Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu. He said: “You cannot play down on our current issues as an emerging democracy, one of which is our religious belief and cultural disposition because these things play roles. We are part of society.
“Our religion and culture are part of the society and there is the need for serious advocacy. We need civil society organisations and women groups to push this forward because it is a wonderful agenda. But you need people’s buy-in from the constituents and not just the representatives.”
Kalu further explained that the bill seeking special seats for women in the legislature and other women-related bills failed because of the complexity of the society and that advocacy by the women groups and other civil societies started rather late.
He urged the womenfolk not to lose hope, but to sustain the advocacy and campaign, saying: “I want to thank all the women that played one role or the other concerning the sensitisation in bringing this to the fore that the participation of women in governance is lower than expected, especially when the comparative analysis is done between this nation and other nations.”
However, among other critics, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State lampooned the National Assembly for rejecting gender bills, describing the action of the lawmakers as a major setback to the country’s democratic advancement.
Wike said it was wrong for the National Assembly controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to deny women desirable roles in politics.
“I laughed when I saw our wives, and women were disgraced. It has never happened anywhere. I saw wives of the president and vice president go to the plenary session of the National Assembly to lobby them, to please help them,” Wike said.
“They (National Assembly) promised them. The party (APC) promised them. The same party that promised them failed them.”
Wike argued that such a thing would not be allowed to happen in progressive societies that had continued to harness the potential of women in the advancement of their countries.
The governor heaped the blame for the bill’s rejection at the feet of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying his lack of interest in allowing affirmative action for women in political administration in the country was responsible.
Wike argued: “APC controls the National Assembly. If Mr. President was in support of this, there is no way they will disgrace women in the National Assembly. Such a shameful thing,” he said.
He may not be far from the truth.
The president is on record, relegating women to the kitchen and the other room, meaning that being politically exposed should not be granted to the women.
The limiting cultural and religious factors ought to be dealt with before reserving seats in government for women, otherwise, even when the seats are reserved, cultural prejudices may truncate it by ensuring that there are no women to take up the positions.
Therefore, Nigerians need to shed the cultural and religious toga that has clasped the women into irrelevance despite their education and accomplishments. The world is advancing fast while Nigeria remains stagnant or retrogressing.
We call on the National Assembly to revisit this bill and breathe life into it. There is no evidence that the domineering role of men in the affairs of this country over the years has done us any good. Perhaps, if women are allowed to come forward as in other countries, they could make the positive change we so much crave in this country possible. It is time we freed Nigerian women from the shackles of backwardness dictated by jaded culture and religion, lest the country continues to lose.