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From Ndubuisi Orji, Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja, Rose Ejembi, Makurdi Abel Leonard, Lafia and Bianca Iboma-Emefu
The House of Representatives, yesterday, bowed to pressure as it rescinded its decisions on the bills for citizenship of foreigners married to Nigerians, indigeneship for women married outside their state of origin and 35 per cent affirmative action for women in political party administration.
The House, like the Senate, had rejected the three bills as well as the one to create 147 special seats for women in the national and state Houses of Assembly in the constitution amendment exercise concluded recently.
The decision of the House irked the women, who have been occupying the National Assembly’s main gate since last week Wednesday, in protest.
However, in a twist, yesterday, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, at an executive session announced that the bills would be re-listed and considered afresh in the next phase of the constitution amendment exercise scheduled to hold in four weeks.
He added that if after the re-consideration, there is still a divergence between the House’s position and that of the Senate, the Green Chamber would rely on Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers it to regulate its procedure to go into harmonisation with the upper chamber.
This is as aggrieved women groups, yesterday, continued their protest against the federal lawmakers for rejecting the gender bills.
The protesting women were joined by Bisi Fayemi, Betty Obaseki and Martha Udom Emmanuel, wives of governors of Ekiti, Edo and Akwa Ibom respectively as well as the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri.
Fayemi said they were at the National Assembly in solidarity with all Nigerian women. “We are here to demand our rights. We want our leaders at the National Assembly to recognise that Nigerian women matter. Anything less than that is totally unacceptable. We are here on behalf of our family. We are here on behalf of our forum to stand with you and tell you we are with you on this journey.”
She said governors wives would participate in the Abuja and Lagos #Occupy National Assembly rallies and across the 36 states.
In a statement by Mrs. Fayemi, the governors wives lamented that over the past three electoral cycles (2011, 2015, 2019) the number of women in the National Assembly has been in steady decline.
“There are currently 109 senators in Nigeria with only seven women. The House of Representatives has 360 members with only 13 women. There are at least 14 state Houses of Assembly with no woman at all. There are no female governors. These disturbing statistics show that there is a deep-rooted bias against women holding leadership positions, and if urgent steps are not taken, this picture will continue to go from bad to worse,” Fayemi said.
Similarly, women also thronged the Lagos House of Assembly in their numbers to protest the rejection of gender equality bill by NASS
The women drawn from Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including Elect Her, Purple Women Foundation, Ondo women Lagos chapter among others expressed grievances on what they termed unfair treatment and the marginalisation of women.
•We’ll vote out lawmakers against gender bills in 2023 – Ezeilo
Founder of Women Aid Collective (WACOL), Prof. Joy Ezeilo has vowed that lawmakers who are against gender bills at the National Assembly will be voted out by women in 2023.
She spoke at the Enugu State House of Assembly during a protest by women groups in Enugu tagged “Occupy Enugu State House of Assembly.”
The protesters, who gathered at the Assembly complex as early as 7.30 am carried placards with inscription such as: “Women have voices, hear them,” “Support affirmative action in favour of gender,” “No woman, no constitution,” “Women matter among.”
Ezeilo said they had taken note of all the lawmakers who were anti-women and would ensure that they do not return to the National Assembly in 2023.
“We will not vote for them in 2023. We are going to vote them out of power. Women have the numerical strength because we know that women can raise the quality of leadership in this country so we must be supported.”
•Rejection shameful, huge tragedy
–NAWOJ
Nigeria Association of Women Journalist (NAWOJ) has described the rejection of the five gender bills as shameful, disgraceful, retrogressive and a huge tragedy in the development of Nigeria and the eye of the global community.
It said until the gender bills are reconsidered, and passed into law, Nigeria would not be seen or considered to be a full democratic nation, adding that the time to stop gender discrimination and biases is now.
Its president, Ladi Bala, stated this in a statement in celebration of the International Women’s Day 2022. “No nation that excludes more than 50 percent of a segment of its demography can develop as expected. It is therefore pertinent to appeal to members of the federal legislatures to as a matter of urgency, necessity and in the interest of the spirit and letters of democracy to discard their earlier posture and allow for the Gender bills to be re-represented and passed into law.”
•Ortom tasks women on emancipation, gender equality
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has called on all Nigerian women not to rest on their oars in the struggle for emancipation and gender equality.
He commended the courage and resilience of Nigerian women to excel in the face of cultural and social-economic inhibitions.
While positing that some of the challenges militating against women’s emancipation such as cultural practices, widowhood, and inability to aspire to certain positions in the society need to be addressed, the governor said his government was at the forefront to empower Benue women politically and economically in line with the 35 per cent Beijing affirmative action.
“For instance, since we came in 2015, we have developed a deliberate policy to give women more opportunities to occupy political offices which hitherto was not in place. We have a good number of women as appointees but above all, Benue State under my leadership has given women leadership roles as chairmen of local government areas in the state.
“In the forthcoming local government elections, our party, the PDP has liberalised women participation by giving nine slots to women as council chairpersons.”
