21 Jul 2006 |
|
A subsequent attempt was therefore made to produce a blueprint for women participation in politics titled "A Political Agenda for Nigerian Women"; the motivators of this process also tried to register a Political Party for Nigerian Women. But they arrived at the INEC Headquarters, a few hours after the deadline for the registration of political parties had passed. The gain of that effort, altogether, was in form of concessions that were made to women by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and personally by President Olusegun Obasanjo who had announced, in a personal manifesto that he intended to run a women-friendly government. For a fact, between 1999 and 2003, more women occupied positions of authority in the public arena than at any other time in history. President Obasanjo in the last seven years, also holds the record of being the most gender-sensitive ruler that Nigeria has ever had, with his assignment of strategic policy portfolios and departments to women - including the Ministries of Finance, Education, and Solid Minerals, the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the non-oil export scheme, the Due Process Office etc. The gradual centering of female presence in public life also yielded dividends in some of the states (Abia, Ogun, Lagos, Osun, Ondo...) where the appearance of women in the corridors of power became a measure of political correctness. By the 2003 elections, the PDP even openly encouraged women to seek political office, with the sub-text that such women would be favoured through waiver of registration fees. The advocacy for increased representation in public life, and the symbolic rise in female presence in authority situations in the past seven years, have however not translated into a rise of female power. The Beijing Plus Crowd has not been able to consolidate on the gains of the 1998-99 process; the advocacy groups of the time now challenged by the reduced flow of funding for women issues, occasioned by a chanelling of funds to health and governance issues, have lost half of their enthusiasm. But the biggest blow has been the collapse of solidarity among the women empowerment advocacy groups and their members. Some of the very articulate women who took part in the design of the blueprint for women's political action soon found their ways into strategic positions in the early Obasanjo government. These same women, who were originally seen as ambassadors on gender issues not only kept their distance from their former colleagues; they blatantly refused to keep faith with the issues. Other women in public life, at other levels, in the past seven years, have not shown any significant interest in development issues, but more in their own political fortunes. Thus, the paradox has since been exposed that increased representation of women in public life does not and may not necessarily translate into ideological gains for those groups seeking qualitative politics through the elimination of the culture of exclusion and bias. Women in public life are not necessarily ideological agents of reconstruction. Individually, they may just be as venal as men in power. This, in part, explains the subsisting disconnection between Nigerian women in politics and the women in civil society. But I believe there is some merit in seeking to return to the pre-1999 moment, to reinvent the ideological platform for women participation in politics. For, in the end, this is not about a competition of the two sexes for space and power, but a broadening of the space for political expression, people participation and choice. That nothing is being done in this direction, is evident in the relative absence of women in the current jostling for positions in 2007. Following the abortion of third term politics, a few political figures have gained the confidence to express interest in the Presidency of Nigeria. In 1999 and 2003, Mrs. Sarah Jubril carried a flag for that office, but although the target had been that by now Nigeria should have a female Presidential aspirant, the advocates of that option are all studiously silent. Could it be that the advocacy for female power in Nigeria is strong only when it is driven by donor-funding? Some female voices can be heard at other levels of political competition but these are not the voices of women who are interested in ideology; these are women who are interested in politics mostly for reasons of personal ambition. The fear is that the level of women in Nigerian public life is still symbolic. In politics, patriarchy remains the rule; women are required to play second fiddle to men; all the party leaders are men; the language of politics is decidedly masculine. In reality, not much progress has been made on gender problems which promote the politics of exclusion in our land. If women truly seek power, their advocacy for change would have to be sustained. As in 1998, the areas of advocacy should include the following: The de-monetisation of politics: Section 93 of the Electoral Act 2006 seeks to reduce the emphasis on money in politics by prescribing limits for campaign funding but what this section of the law offers is taken away in Section 93 (8)(b) which allows a candidate to spend as much as possible prior to "the notification of the date fixed for the electon". Any neophyte in Nigerian politics knows that the real process of election campaign takes place long before the party Convention and Primaries. To win the party's nomination, political aspirants need to identify likely delegates, and once that is done, the standard convention is to place them on a payroll. The money that is given in this regard is never documented. The Godfathers within the party also have to be appeased with the palm oil of money. This intra-party game of money politics precedes the eventual competition in form of a Naira-for-Naira tango with candidates of opposing parties. To be a candidate in Nigerian politics, stand for, and/or win an election is thus an expensive process. Women are disadvantaged in this equation. Very few women, if any (may be the ones who are backed by rich husbands) can mobilise enough resources to embark on the Casino-betting at the centre of Nigerian politics. The culture of violence: The evil of violence is a major limiting factor in Nigerian politics. Politicians are required to recruit bodyguards, thugs and all kinds of able-bodied men who should be in a position to unleash violence on the opposition whenever they are required to do so. This is combined with assassination, organised armed robbery, physical assault and membership of occultic groups where the office-seeker is required to enter into a pact with mysterious, metaphysical forces. To worsen the situation, political meetings are held till very late in the night. No woman with an active family life can enjoy participating in Nigerian politics, without having to make sacrifices on the home-front. To open up Nigerian politics, this culture of violence against the political aspirant would have to be addressed; political meetings do not also have to be held at night. The abolition of the Women's Wing: The most redoubtable evidence of discriminatory practices in Nigerian political parties is the existence of the so-called women's wing, and the designation of a Women's leader. Members of the Women's Wing are constantly reminded of their subordinate status within the party. Their principal assignment at party functions is to organise entertainment for all guests and to massage the ego of the party leaders. No political event is complete in any part of Nigeria without these women, usually clad in aso-ebi attires, with sky-bound head-gears: they punctuate the political event with songs and where they are accompanied by drummers, with extra-ordinary dancing. This denigration of women in politics is taken for granted, there is even a party budget for it. For as long as women allow themselves to be used as entertainment providers within the party, the search for gender-equity in politics may well remain a dream. A starting point is the abolition of women's wings of political parties, and the treatment of women politicians as equal partners within the party. The de-eliticisation of women politics: The point has been made repeatedly that Nigerian women in politics and public life are guilty of elitism. They are looked upon, even by the womenfolk as a special group: liberated women, often single, widowed, separated, or still searching and so, the Nigerian woman in politics may not be seen as a role model or representative by other women. On election day, women vote against their own kind. When women politicians are cheated by their male counterparts, they have no women network to fall back upon. In the 2003 election, over 2,000 women sought election into the National Assembly in Abuja. Three made it to the Senate, 22 to the House of Representatives. Nationwide there are only two female Deputy Governors - Ogun and Osun. Women have to break the barriers of silence among themselves. Those of them in public life are alienated from the larger majority whose interests they claim to be defending. However, Nigerian women are well informed about other women in different parts of the world who have attained high political offices. These include Isabel Peron of Argentina, Golda Meir of Israel, Indira Ghandi (India), Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom), Siramovo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka), Gloria Arroyo and Corazon Aquino (the Phillippines), Mary Robinson (Ireland), Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia); Linda Geiler (Bolivia)... But Nigerian women must move beyond a fascination with rhetoric and seek to give effect to the political rights of women, and a true reflection of the numerical strength of women. In the end, opening up the political space for both sexes will require wide-ranging reforms which would specifically target all possible violations of Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution which protects every Nigerian from all forms of discrimination. Women are the principal victims of the violations of this aspect of the law. Now, is the time again, for women of courage and principle, to take a stand and speak up for the rights of women in public life.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IN the course of preparations for the return to civilian rule between 1998 and 1999, I attended quite a number of civil society workshops and seminars at which groups of women, supported by international funding agencies, examined the issue of women in public life, and the need to ensure that women are fairly represented in Nigeria's then emerging political transition process. This gender-focussed discourse and plan of action drew inspiration from the fact that whereas women represent about half of the Nigerian population, with recorded history of women heroism, and achievements, this important segment of the population was nevertheless discriminated against, and outrightly marginalised in decision-making processes in both private and public spheres. 
# 
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.