By The Speaker of the 5th Nigerian Youth Parliament, Rt Hon (Dr) Azeezat Yishawu has called on both chambers of the National Assembly to reconsider their stand on the rejected gender bills.
In a statement on Tuesday, Yishawu, while commending the legislative chambers for the ongoing constitution amendment, noted that it was unfair to the womenfolk that two critical gender bills failed to scale through.
The legislations include the bill seeking to create special seats for women in the National and State Assemblies, and the affirmative action bill which seeks at least 35 per cent positions for women in political parties.
According to the Speaker, the poor representation of women in leadership positions is an age-long challenge. She stated that despite constituting almost 50% of Nigeria’s population and a larger percentage of the electorate, women are largely under-represented in public life due to gender barriers and societal factors.
“For a country where a woman has never been elected into the office of the president or state governor, this situation shows that Nigeria is lagging behind as regards to the growing trend of women serving in elected and appointed positions across the world.
“Undeniably, the global system is tilting towards “womenocracy”, therefore our dear nation shouldn’t be left behind. More than ever, there is an urgent need to eliminate all forms of gender barriers to accomodate women in the corridors of power,” she said.
Yishawu argued that creating special seats for women in the federal and state legislatures will help open up the political space, adding that as seen in countries like Rwanda and South Africa, the inclusion of affirmative action in the political system has paved way for increased women representation in politics.
The Speaker said, “I therefore call on the both chambers of the National Assembly to reconsider their stand on the proposed laws in the interest of democracy and increased representation of Nigerian women in leadership. The passage of these two critical bills will, no doubt, provide full and equitable representation of women in public life, and help to build a stronger and sustainable democracy.”
