…Women target 1m signatures to represent bills
….To take advocacy to lawmakers, across Nigeria
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, has assured that the five gender bills rejected by the 9th National Assembly in 2022, will be passed this time around by the 10th Assembly.
The rejection of the bills by the 9th National Assembly had led to immediate massive protests and across Nigeria including blocking of the entrance gate of the Assembly by Womanifesto, a feminist non political, women focused group with over 500 organisations across Nigeria.
The five gender bills include: “Bill to provide special seats for women at national assembly”, “Affirmative action for women in political party administration- 35 per cent of executive positions”, “Bill to grant citizenship to foreign-born husbands of a Nigerian woman”, “A bill on indigenship- married women should have a choice on state of origin and have access” and “Bill seeking the inclusion of at least ten percent affirmative action in favour of women in Ministerial appointments”.
Kalu, threw his weight behind the reconsideration of the bills, while speaking at the social media action and launch of advocacy hashtag and signature campaign #Reconsider5genderbills , #affirmativeaction organnized by the Women Advocate Research and Documentation Center (WARDC) and her gender bill cluster including Womamifesto, National Coalition on Affirmative Action , Gender and Constitition Reform Network, SAGE and Gender Mobile with support from USAID and SCALE Palladium to get at least one million signatories to ensure passage of the Bills.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Strategy and Programme Development, Karu Simon, the Deputy Speaker said although the gender bills were not passed in the 9th assembly, he is confident that it will see the light of the day this time around.
He advocated for increased awareness, citing the need for the public and the lawmakers to be properly informed and educated about the importance of the five gender bills, explaining that the reason they were thrown out in the 9th assembly was because of lack of awareness.
According to Kalu, “Nigerians need to be enlightened more on the five gender Bills so they can understand that it benefits all and support its reconsideration at the National Assembly. If there’s anything that should be done better is the aspect of educating not just the legislators but the people within the country to understand the value of the bills.
“Let there be that level of engagement with the citizens and down to the grassroot, let every women and young person speak about it because it has the generational value to the country,” he said.
Secretary General, Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternatives (WRAPA) Sa’adatu Mahdi, commended the gender cluster for re-engaging the conversation around the gender bills. She stated that Nigeria was at a disadvantage owing to the neglect of a large number of its populace.
According to her, “this time we will continue the struggle, but in a different way, the men who are in our midst will be the ones in front. Whatever means we need to use “whether it’s Twitter (X) we will use or which ever like we did with the VAPP law.
“Nigeria must come to terms that it is short changing itself by 50% of it’s population. This is not anything new, it is about equity and justice. We do not want to be recipients, we want to be contributors. We are willing to negotiate.”
Asserting that “the gender bill is everyone’s business,” not just for women, Chief of Party of SCALE Palledium project, Lydia Odeh, stated in her remarks that the five gender laws are not merely pieces of legislation but rather cornerstones towards a more inclusive and egalitarian society.
“These five gender bills we advocate for today are not just pieces of legislation;they are keystones in the doorway towards a more inclusive and egalitarian society. They signify a commitment to dismantling barriers that have hindered women’s full participation in various facets of life.
“They represents vision where every individual,regardless of gender,has equal opportunity to contribute and benefit from the progress of our nation.
The Five Gender Bills are everyone’s business,regardless of your gender,” she stated.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner for Women Affairs, Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, on her part, stated that the fight to pass gender bills affects everyone, not just women. She also promised to mobilise the one million signature campaign needed to pass the bill across all six of the FCT’s area councils.
“My target is to drive the target for one million signatures on the passage of the five gender bills in the six area councils of the federal capital territory.
“So it’s an emergence and it’s right on the cause of 16 days activism against gender based violence so its a very auspicious appropriately positioned timeline not just for women but for anyone who is a patriot within the global affirmative space for creating and driving change and creating social economic bubbles and opportunities,” she said.
Similarly, the Former Country Director, ActionAid, Ene
Obi, maintained that the bill is not just about women but about humanity as it entails human rights and social justice, she therefore called on all Nigerians to support the reintroduction and reconsideration of the bills.
“We are hoping that 10th Assembly will do better as we plan to make another presentation of the bills,” she said.
The founder and Executive Director of WARDC, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, on her part said that the hashtag launch intends to collect one million signatures from citizens in favour of the bill’s passage and that women will not back down in their push for the legislation’ passage to the National Assembly.
“We won’t surrender until the gender bills are passed. We cannot continue to live in a country where our needs are not recognised because Nigeria belongs to all of us men and women and his is why we are maintaining the tempo for the reintroduction of the bills,” she said.