Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara
The UN Women and Women Aid Collective (WACOL ) has advocated for a Reserved Seat for women in politics to give them a sense of belonging and amplify their voice in the Nigerian political landscape.
This call was part of the WACOL program to “Advance Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria”, a project sponsored by the UN Women with support from the Canadian government.
In a one-day State-level Advocacy Town Hall meeting in Abakaliki, stakeholders committed to supporting the reserved seat bill.
The event was attended by selected stakeholders and critical actors in women’s advancement with a focus on building consensus and consolidating a memorandum to be presented to the Constitutional Review Committee during the upcoming zonal public hearings.
Professor Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the Executive Director of WACOL in her remarks during the event, condemned the low level of women representation in elective positions in Nigeria, describing it as unacceptable.
Represented by the Head of Programmes, Nkechi Igwe, Prof Ezeilo said the campaign would be stepped down to the grassroots to enable a greater number of the population to gather the knowledge and lend their voices to the issue.
She said, “Looking at the percentage of women both in the National and State Assemblies, it is quite infinitesimal compared to the efforts women put into politics.
“We observed that when it comes to voting and those that register to vote during elections, it is always more women, but when it comes to the number coming out for elective positions, we have a limited number of women representing us there.
“And we know that there’s no society that can survive without the work of women.
“So, what we are asking for is a specially reserved constituency seat exclusively to be contested by women.
“Having drawn lessons from countries that have adopted this reform through constitutional review and how it positively impacted their governance system, we find the opportunity of the review of the Nigerian constitution, as amended, to bring out this issue.”
She further explained that WACOL has developed a strategy of engaging volunteers who would take the campaign to churches, markets and other public places to explain to the people the essence of the Reserved Seat Bill and win their support.
“The UN Women is supporting almost the 36 states of the federation for this advocacy to go on simultaneously because we want a lot of people to be aware of this issue of Reserved seats so that when the zonal hearing comes up, a lot of people must have been aware and throw their support behind the bill.
“We know that voting for the reserved seat bill is a win for all Nigerians
The Reserved Seat Bill in Nigeria, also known as the Specific Seats Bill, aims to increase women’s representation in the National and State Assemblies by creating additional seats that are contested and filled only by women.
Okechukwu Okpara a resources person for the program represented by the Programme Manager, WACOL/UN Women Political Participation project and lead facilitator at the event, Helen Kalu, further explained that the bill is a temporary measure designed to boost women’s participation in decision-making, with a “sunset clause” that would abolish the seats after a set period of 16 years.
The facilitator expressed joy that the gender bill, which also incorporates special seats for women, has passed the first reading in Ebonyi state.
In her submission, the former commissioner for women’s affairs and social development in Ebonyi, Mrs Ugo Nnachi, advocated for leadership training for women and mentorship to enable them to be equipped for leadership at all levels.
Mrs Ugo Nnachi commended WACOL for taking the lead in advancing women’s active participation in politics in Nigeria.
State Commissioner for Inter-party Affairs and Labour Matters, Philip Ogbonnaya Okorie, noted that Ebonyi State under the present administration has already given women the pride of place in governance through many sensitive appointive posts, adding that Governor Francis Nwifuru in his People’s Charter of Needs agenda was always disposed to supporting all initiatives aimed at giving the best to the people.
He assured of the state government’s support for the bill and called on women to always strive to show up with impact in the political arena.
Eze Paul Ogodo Egbe from Agalegu Ishieke Community, in his submission, emphasized the importance of giving women the chance.
He highlighted many women who have performed very well in leadership positions, such as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, describing the womenfolk as prudent managers of resources.p