Where are the women?

BY AYODELE LAWAL ADIO

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/where-are-the-women/

A few weeks ago I received a letter inviting me to be part of an association with a mandate to oil the wheels of development within and around the estate I reside in. Excited about yet another opportunity to contribute to developmental issues, I was right on time for the first meeting that was called. The meeting outlined the various issues faced by residents and contributions were made to mitigate such pertinent issues. For such an informal gathering I was impressed by the level of maturity demonstrated by the residents and particularly elated by identification of the problems and strategic choices made guided by a clearly articulated sets of objectives. To say the least, It was quintessential of a united nations gathering. However, there was an obvious discoloration, of the 57 residents that were present at the meeting, no female showed up. In the weeks that followed, the absence of females almost re-named the association a Men’s club not until deliberate steps were taken to get women to participate in the process. Still they gave excuses of cooking meals or house chores to do and didn’t have enough time to spare.  It was at this very instance that it occurred to me that though the participation of women in governance was structurally designed to exclude them, their greatest enemies were themselves. If women will not willingly join informal groups that foster certain levels of developments at community levels, where else would they learn the critical skills to function effectively in mainstream politics. As long as we continue to focus our advocacy solely on creating opportunities for women in governance (which is cardinal) and ignore the roles women themselves have to play in terms of capacity development and civic engagement, we would simply re-establish the men as the umpire. Since governance shouldn’t really be about who governs but rather how we are governed, women must brace up by offering the country a new kind of leadership that guarantees a stronger nation and resonates perfectly with the electorates. With a perfect blend of intellectual sophistication and compassion, women are likely to produce the answer to leadership deficit the world is facing occasioned by the dynamic challenges that weren’t anticipated by even the best of training institutions.  This was the exact kind of leadership demonstrated by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor when she took lead in addressing the crisis in the Euro zone and more recently when she reminded the world and particularly Europe that the lives of immigrants matter by opening her door to hundreds of thousands of Syria refugees. Countries with more women in their parliament have proven to be much more stable and less prone to crisis. Research has also proven that the participation of women helps to end violence within a year by 24%. More importantly, women have proven to be the conscience of society there by exemplifying the rare traits of empathy when in positions of leadership. Very few women have made significant contributions to governance in Nigeria, a consequence of which is the malaise evident in our socio-political environ. I believe that dream ‘change’ this nation awaits will only be possible when women stand up to be counted. In Lagos state, of the 24 commissioners that were appointed by the governor, only two were women, Mrs Lola Akande, Ministry of Women Affairs (did we expect a male to head this ministry) and Mrs Uzamat Akinbule of the Ministry of Youth. Only 4 of the 40 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly are women. In the 8thsenate, women took only 8 seats of the 109 available and 15 of the 360 seats in the green chambers. There is yet to be a female governor and only 4 states, Ogun, Lagos, Enugu and Rivers state can boast of a female deputy governor. In a world where 22 countries including 3 from Africa are being ran by women, with a strong possibility of a woman occupying the most powerful seat in the world (Hilary Clinton), Nigerian women have failed to meet the cut off mark. Until our women take themselves far more seriously rather than being simply the entertainment and welcoming arm of political parties, the status quo will remain. To this date, political parties see women the exact way newspaper vendors see them, “women aren’t really interested in politics, just show them the fashion magazine”. But only women can change this narrative by showing themselves interested, capable and ready to lead. It is not the place of men to create opportunities for you, nobody gives you anything, you have to demand it and then take it.