…Says, Nigeria in Desperate Need of Women in leadership position.
The outcry for an inclusive governance in Nigeria cannot be too loud when statictics around gender parity may not be achievable up until another 130 years from now. According to UN Women.
Nigerian government, the public as well as the private sectors need to move to be part of the existing countries championing women’s representation in leadership and governance. As of June 2024, 28 women serves as Head of State and/or Government in 27 countries. This feat is achievable when government and it’s citizenry are enlightend about the numerous benefits inherent in given space for women to thrive in leadership positions.
The legal campaign for affirmative action, led by the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) in April 2022, Towards Inclusive Governance in Nigeria, a project supported by the then Open Society Initiative for West Africa, now known as Open Society Foundations, secured a historic judgment against the Federal Government, affirming the importance of a 35% Affirmative Action in appointive positions in Nigeria.
A gender Advocate and Founder of Women in Leadership Advancement Network (WILAN) Global, Abosede George-Ogan has said the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a huge opportunity and advantage of time to implement the 35% affirmative action, bridge gender gaps and increase women’s representation in leadership roles. She made this remark during an interview on Monday saying, this administration has more room for improvement in Nigeria’s bid to achieve 35% affirmative action for appointive positions and actualizing an inclusive governance.
Reacting to the delay in implementing the high court judgment ordering the Federal Government to ensure 35% of its appointive positions are assigned to women, the Social Inclusion Champion, said though the government is only one year into its administration, there isn’t enough being done to encourage women’s participation in public or political offices.
Speaking on Nigeria’s gender gap and progress towards inclusive governance, she lamented that gender representation in Nigerian politics remains dismal across both executive and legislative arms of government. According to Abosede, “ the current low statistics of women in leadership positions underscore the urgent need for increased representation of women in politics.”.
She said, “expanding women’s roles in leadership is essential for achieving true gender equality and harnessing the full potential of Nigeria’s population, which we will as a nation gradually achieve if we continue to have administrations such as this that are intentional about women’s inclusion in leadership.”.
According to Abosede, some of the best strategies this administration can imbibe to help women thrive is male allyship and most importantly gender quotas, which have been proven to be effective. She also reiterates the need to implement 35% of representation of women in leadership positions across board.
Nigeria, according to her, is in desperate need of women in leadership because women bring human face to providing solutions that people and societies need. She called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to partner with the legislative body to enforce the 35% affirmative action and other policies that create an encouraging environment for women to thrive and venture into political positions, thereby improving the developmental level of the country.
She said, “many better-developed countries led by women, such as the Nordic countries, have implemented family-friendly policies that have significantly aided their development.” “For Nigeria to move from where we are to where we want to be, it is essential to have women in leadership because we all benefit when women lead,”, she said.
