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Magnus Eze, Enugu
Ebonyi State women have lamented their alleged marginalisation in the politics and governance of the country.
To prove their case, they stated that of the five states in the South East, Ebonyi is the only one yet to produce a female minister or Chairman of a strategic federal board in the last 20 years of return of democratic rule.
So, when the roll call of Igbo amazons who had served in the Federal Executive Council in the last 20 years like the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Chinwe Obaji, Mrs. Kema Chikwe, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, Amb. Fidelia Njeze, Senator Stella Oduah, Mrs. Josephine Anenih, and others, is taken, sadly, no Ebonyi woman is there.
Based on the above unpleasant statistics; an umbrella organisation of Ebonyi women in politics and industry resident in Nigeria and abroad; the Ebonyi Women Vanguard (EWV), has taken up the campaign to see the recognition of Ebonyi women at the national level.
National President EWV, Mrs. Immaculata Ibe said: “For 20 years running, successive administrations in the country have neglected Ebonyi women from appointment into major federal establishments. EWF considers it as unfair and against the spirit of equity, fairness, and good conscience in the distribution of political appointments in the country.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Ebonyi state parades some of the most illustrious women that this country can offer and who have contributed tremendously in the socio-economic and political emancipation of Nigeria”.
The women group noted that their counterparts in sister states in the region have had fair representation in major appointive positions in the federal cabinet arguing that the seeming alienation of Ebonyi women deserved to be a legitimate concern.
According to EWV, a checklist of Federal appointments of women from the sister states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, and Imo states into federal establishments reveals a stark illustration of how Ebonyi state women have been marginalized since the inception of the current democratic dispensation.
In fact, they categorically made a passionate appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to give them a ministerial slot in his next cabinet.
“Mr President, our appeal is predicated on the reality on ground of how our women who have the experience, capacity, intellectual accomplishments, and proven track-record of achievements in diverse areas of human endeavour remained unfairly treated in the allocation of federal appointments for the south-east geo-political block,” the women stated.
They also regretted that only few women hold positions in government and in the different political parties in the state.
The women accentuated their position in a resolution reached at a one-day seminar tagged: “The challenges women face in joining and participating in elections” organised by the International Republican Institute (IRI) and supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at Cirenes Hotel, Abakaliki.
Participants who were drawn from different political parties including those holding government appointments resolved, however, to take their destiny in their hands.
The resolution stated that: “Women will no longer accept just the position of women leader in their various political parties. We want equal position with the men folks. If our men succeeded and are still succeeding in politics with godfatherism formula, we are more than ready to build our own godmotherism.
“The presupposed assumption of the popular slogan “women don’t like themselves” is a lie, we love ourselves but the quota usually assigned to us is too small compared to our counterparts, the male folks.
“We have resolved to do grassroots mobilization for women, push and support our women and negotiate for more seats and opportunities for our women especially for National Assembly.”
Coordinator of IRI in the state, Mr. Anthony Anichukwueze while addressing the participants stated that the seminar aimed at enabling critical stakeholders, especially women, discuss the challenges facing them, particularly regarding political participation and leadership, in order to chart the way forward.
“This programme was designed to give stakeholders in the political arena, especially women the opportunity to discuss on the challenges facing them and the strategies they can adopt to enable them increase their impact politically and otherwise”, Anichukwueze said.
In her remarks, Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the state, Mrs Jennifer Adibe-Nwafor, said they were poised to partner any organisations that would pave way for Ebonyi women and ensure that they participate adequately in politics in the state and nation at large.
