WIMBIZ: Political Participation of Women Stands at 6.7%

Ugo Aliogo and Chinagorom Loveth
A communiqué by the Women in Management Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) has revealed that the national average of women’s political participation in Nigeria remains a mere 6.7 percent both in elective and appointive positions, far below the global average of 22.5 percent, Africa regional average of 23.4 percent, and West African sub-regional average of 15 percent.

The communiqué also stated that the situation continues to persist despite the strong advocacy for gender equality and inclusive development by social movements and organisations such as WIMBIZ and commitment by the Federal Government in the National Gender Policy (NGP) “to building a nation devoid of gender discrimination, guaranteeing equal access to political, social and economic wealth creation opportunities for women and men.”

The communiqué further explained that when the President Muhammadu Buhari administration released the list of ministerial appointees in 2019, only seven women made the list out of a total of 43 nominees, making up just 16.7 percent.

It hinted in the National Assembly, women constitute a mere 5.6 percent of members of the House of Representatives and 6.5 percent of the Senate, which places Nigeria in 122 positions out of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report of 2017 released by the World Economic Forum.
The communiqué remarked that the under-representation of women have become familiar with governing councils of tertiary institutions reconstituted without female representation, “and the recently announced 3rd constituted Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority Board (NSIAB) where again, no woman was included.”

The communiqué posited that women underrepresentation is disheartening given the benefits inherent in their participation in all sectors of the economy.
It espoused that when women are appointed as leaders in the public service or elected into political offices, they are often shamed for doing their jobs with transparency and integrity and disgraced out without justification.

According to the communiqué, “There are countless examples of female leaders being unfairly targeted, harassed, taunted, bullied, and attacked often in excess of what their male counterparts have to contend with. Worse still, they are forced to deal with an unrelentless barrage of gender bias and deep-rooted misogyny.”