Why we need more women in leadership – Ode

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

As the world marks the International Women’s Day, 2024 ,  Dr Adiya Ode,  Country Representative and Political director, Propcom+, has said there is need for more women in decision making position in the country. Propcom+ is an agricultural based programme funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.

Ode, in this interview, also called for more investments in women, stating that it will yield massive benefits for the society.

The theme for this year’s International Women Day is “Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress, ” what do  you  make of it?

The theme  just reflects the result of studies over the years, that investing in women brings about improvement in the lives  of the children; investing in women means that half of the productive  population can now contribute. Because when you don’t invest in women,  you are reducing the productive contribution of at least half the population.

So, if you invest in women, they are able to contribute; they are able to produce. They are able to reach their potential. Not just that. They are able to influence the coming generation. Because of course, we all know that when a woman’s status improves, her children benefit.

When you educate a woman, the potential or the outcome for her children improves, and this includes health outcomes, education outcomes. And the woman contributes to her community, to her society. And that contribution can result in progress.

We have to start looking at women as economic agents within the Nigeria economy; who should have access to resources that can have them participate equitably within the Nigerian economy.

But above all, women have to have a voice in society. Women have to have access to leadership positions decision making so that decisions that are taken reflect the realities of 50 per cent of our population.  Without that,  it is difficult.

Talking about women being represented in leadership positions. What do you think  are the impediments  to women participation in politics and how can they be addressed?

You see the political space is a space for gladiators. It is not for the faint hearted. And when I see politicians who arrive for instance in the National Assembly and are sworn in, I respect them, because the pathway to becoming even a candidate, not to talk of the main election, for one is opaque.

Secondly, there are many blockades. There are many parties that have to be satisfied. So,  it is difficult for women to navigate that space. A lot of the decisions are not taken in the open. Old school ties. Old boy networks and all that. We all know that they are godfathers. So,  it is difficult for a woman to stand up to become a candidate. And once you are a candidate, to become elected, I don’t have the figures. But I will really like to know how much each of the candidates, I know Peter Obi recently gave account of how much he spent.

How many women have access to that sort of war chest. Not many women do.

So,  it is difficult. Even within the party hierarchy, it is men that are in the party hierarchy. You were in Nigeria, when all the gender bills that have gone to the National Assembly were thrown out.

Many men took personally. It was like a personal affront. How dare them?

So, even within the party hierarchy, when you arrive in the space, you are either coming to praisesing or be an escort. You are not a decision maker.

We want to see the party hierarchy filled with women. I would like a woman to be chairman of a major party. Why don’t APC or PDP elect a woman chairman. That will send a strong signal about how much they  values 50 percent of the voting population.

Many have argued that the women contribute to their being relegated to the background; they seem to be more content as cheer leaders, a woman is standing election against a man and you will see women supporting the man?

We don’t want women just voting for women because they are women. Anyone who stands in an election should be a qualified candidate that men should vote for. Not just women. So, why do we vilify women for not voting for women.

I really don’t like it when people say women should vote for women because you are not going to be the representatives of women. You are a representatives of a constituency. Why don’t people say men should vote for men. If it is men voting for men, women voting for women, I think many of the people we have in position today will not be elected.

So, if there is a woman candidate, I want to see men voting for her because she is qualified; not because she is a woman.

One of the objectives  of your programme talks about improving nutrition and food security, Nigeria is facing a food crisis, how can the country navigate through this.

There are many issues that have informed the food crisis. There is no magic bullet at this point because the crisis is caused by coming together of many negatives. We have  climate change. Of course climate change is real. And it is affecting agriculture productivity. But it is also coming at a time when our economy is doing badly.

The exchange rate devaluation is also affecting the market. And it is the market that sends signals to the farmers. So, that is also affecting the food crisis. We  also have the fuel subsidy removal, which has increased the price of petrol and that have had effects on other issues.

One of the things we are doing in Propcom is increasing climate smart agriculture in Nigeria. So, increasing access of farmers to seeds that are drought resistant, agricultural practices that help farmers to be resilient to the impact of climate change, particularly in the North of Nigeria. A lot of our food production is done in the North. Many farmers in the past have be affected by drought. You have rains that are unpredictable.

So, we are also improving access to irrigation technology so that we can have year round farming. So, not only improving productivity, increasing yields. We are also increasing farmers access to market. A lot of time we have farmers having glut in production. So, we want to be able to see a situation where there  are options, where you have your harvest; people take it off your hand. And pay you a good market rate, because you have access to information.