Follow Us on Google
Every March 8, world leaders, politicians, industry leaders, champions of women’s cause, non-governmental organizations, feminist advocates and other stakeholders gather to celebrate the diverse contributions of women to the development of nations and societies. This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) was not an exception in such symbolic celebratory gestures. In Nigeria, our political leaders, politicians and NGOs spoke eloquently in defence of women. They also highlighted notable things to be done by the government to improve the condition of women in the country and possibly end gender inequality in political and work places.
The theme for this year’s IWD, “Rights, Justice, Action for All Women and Girls,” underscores the urgent need for concrete action to protect women’s rights and ensure justice across all sectors of the society. The theme will resonate with Nigerian women, many of whom are victims of rights abuses in private and public spaces. Many of them are victims of marital abuse. Many girls have died in the hands of their intimate partners. Many girls are victims of child brides and iron pressing of young breasts. In poor families, the males eat food before the females. If the food cannot go round, the females will go hungry while the men eat. Girls will miss schooling so that the boys can go to school in some families. The female gender is treated like a disposable commodity in some homes. They are used to settle old debts. At times, they are forced to marry old men. In some cultures, they are trafficked for money and other needs. They work more in homes and farms for unpaid labour. Our society is full of barriers that bring women and girls down.
The lamentation of Nnu Ego in Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood, “God when will you create a woman who will be fulfilled in herself, a full human being, not anybody’s appendage?”, is a subtle reminder of Nigerian women’s botched dreams and aspirations as far as gender equality is concerned. It reminds the women of their poor representation in politics, where decisions that affect the welfare of those whose population make up half of our over 200 million Nigerians are made. While women representation in politics in Rwanda, South Africa and some other African nations has passed the 50% mark, women representation in Nigeria’s National Assembly is below 5%. The highest our women have reached in politics is the position of deputy governor. Even at that, they are much silenced. Even in parliament, their voices are often muted. And those who tend to aspire to be assertive are often muted, punished and even overlooked.
As our leaders celebrate Nigerian women in this year’s IWD, I remember the plight of Nnu Ego and other women with similar lived experiences. I also remember my mothers, grandmothers and other women who have toyed to make our world a better place. I also remember the female teachers, nurses and midwives, doctors and other professionals, market women and women who fry akara by the roadside and those who sell fruits and other edibles on our highways. I remember women who work day and night to eke out a living in our challenged environment and society to train their children and support their spouses. I remember those who sweep the streets and major highways even at the risk of their lives.
All of these industrious women deserve to be celebrated and rewarded for their energy and enterprise. They also populate the churches, praying day and night for their husbands and children. During elections, they troop our in their numbers to fulfill their civic responsibility, while some men are busy playing football and older ones are busy with some bottles of beer and pepper soup at some joints. They silently bemoan their disappointment when their votes did not count. They cry and bemoan their fate in silences. How many female senators do we have in Nigeria? Perhaps we have 4 or 5 women out of 109 senators. How many do we have in the House of Representatives? Out of 360 members in the Green Chamber, there are only 16 females. How do we make progress with this glaring gender inequality and under-representation of women in the parliament?
Other News
The campaign for reserved seats for women in the parliament is treated with much disdain. To some men, it is inconsequential. To others, it does not really matter. Nigeria will know no development as long as we keep women perpetually down in national development agenda. Our patriarchal and macho politics and its gender exclusion paradigms cannot take us anywhere. He who holds somebody down also holds himself down. Both of them will remain down until thy kingdom come.
It is good that President Bola Tinubu, the governors, lawmakers and civil society groups have called for stronger policies, investments and concrete actions to empower women and advance gender equality in the country. The President rightly observed that “across our homes, farms, markets, offices and the halls of leadership, Nigerian women continue to demonstrate strength, courage and determination that help hold our nation together.”
Despite extolling the virtues of women and their immense contributions to national development, most of our women are marginalized. Their presence is merely tolerated while their voices are eternally muted in the nation’s highest decision-making organs. Even in politics, apart from the office of the First Lady and the tokenism of being appointed women leaders of political parties, Nigerian women are politically marginalized and even muted. Those who are fortunate to be appointed deputy governors are just there as decorative items or ornaments to such offices. They are no better than vehicle spare tyres. Spare tyres are rarely used except in periods of emergencies.
No doubt, the Nigerian society from North and South is overtly patriarchal. It is a man’s world and everything is about men, men and men to the total exclusion of the other sex, the female gender or our better half. The President, governors and lawmakers should come up with pragmatic policies that will henceforth advance the cause of women and alleviate their plights in the society. The celebration of IWD should go beyond rhetoric and its symbolic gestures. Beyond its rituals is the need to really elevate women in politics and others spheres of our national life. Like men, women should be allowed to achieve their dreams and aspirations in the social, economic, political and religious spaces. All the barriers that impede women’s and girl-child development must be dismantled forthwith. Women should be at the centre of our national development agenda, not at the margins. They should be given the pedestal to stand as tall as men in the society and even taller. It is doable. We can do it.
