AN APPRAISAL OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WOMEN PARTICIPATION ON THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
The level of participation of women in politics in Nigeria since the inception of democratic institution is low and grossly inadequate to produce women in both elective and appointive positions in government. This has constituted a growing challenge in nigerian politics. However, concerted efforts have been made by government and non -governmentalorganizations to increase the level of participation of women in politics in line with the declaration made at the fourth World Conference on women in Beijing, which advocated 30% affirmative action. In Nigeria, the extant National Gender Policy (NGP) recommended 35% affirmative action instead and sought for a more inclusive
representation of women with at least 35% of both elective political and appointive public service positions
respectively. The under representation of women in political participation gained root due to the patriarchal practice
inherent in our society, much of which were obvious from pre-colonial era till date. However, the re-introduction of
democratic governance has witnessed once again an increase in women political participation both in elective and
appointive offices. The national average of women’s political participation in Nigeria has remained 6.7 percent in
elective and appointive positions, which is 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. For instance, out of the 36 recently
confirmed ministerial appointments by the administration now in power, only six (6) are women , representing 16.7
percent. In the National Assembly, women constitute 5.6 percent of members of the House of Representatives and
6.5 percent of the Senators. Also with the fifteen years of uninterrupted democratic governance (1999-2015),
Nigeria is yet to produce a female governor in any of the 36 states of the Federation. This paper seeks a critical
review of the importance of data in monitoring women participation in politics in Nigeria vis-à-vis the affirmative
declaration. Recently, the National Center for Women Development embarked on the collection of a national data
on involvement and participation of women in politics in Nigeria (1999 to 2015). One of the objectives of the data
collection is to provide a baseline for the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The
data collation of the exercise is ongoing. Hopes are high that the result will show the progress steadily made to
achieving the affirmative declaration and determine how the gap that erstwhile existed has been closed as well as
measure the variation between where we are and the affirmative action of 35 percent. Also, it will improve
evidence-based planning and programming involving women in decision making; increase the support of key
stakeholders on measures to increase representation of women in decision-making and further improved awareness
of new advocacy tools among stakeholders to support the campaign for increased representation of women in
decision making in Nigeria.
KEYWORDS: Gender Equality, Politics, Women, Electoral Process, Patriarchal, Political activist and political
participation.
INTRODUCTION
Under international standards, both men and women should have equal rights and opportunities
to everything worldwide, most especially to participate fully in all aspects and at all levels of
political processes. Globally, women constitute over half of the world’s population and
contribute in vital ways to societal development generally. In most societies, women assume
some key roles, which are: mother, producer, home-manager, and community organizer, sociocultural and political activists. Of these many roles mentioned, the last has been engendered by
women movement.
In line with global trend, Nigerian women constitute nearly half of the population of the country.
But despite the major roles they play with their population, women roles in the society are yet to
be given recognition. This is due to some cultural stereotypes, abuse of religion, traditional
practices and patriarchal societal structures. In Nigeria the awareness about the role of women in
development of a nation came up in 1980s. The International Conference on women in Beijing in
1995 enhanced the effective participation of women in politics in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, about 51 percent of women are involved in voting during elections. Despite these,
women are still under represented in both elective and appointive positions. Available statistics
revealed that overall political representation in government of Nigeria is less than 7 percent
(Agbalajobi, 2010). This shows that Nigeria has not attained 30 percent affirmative as prescribed
by the Beijing Platform of Action.
Nigeria has been recording low participation of women in both elective and appointive positions
this is a growing concern to many Nigerians. However, concerted efforts have been made by
government and non-governmental organizations to increase the level of participation of women
in politics, in line, with the declaration made at the fourth World Conference on women in
Beijing, which advocated 30% affirmative action. However, in Nigeria, the extant National
Gender Policy (NGP) recommended 35% affirmative action instead and sought for a more
inclusive representation of women with at least 35% of both elective political and appointive
public service positions respectively. The under representation of women in political
participation gained root due to the patriarchal practice inherent in our society, much of which
were obvious from pre-colonial era till date. However, the re-introduction of democratic
governance has witnessed once again an increase in women political participation both in
elective and appointive offices in Nigeria.
OBJECTIVES: This paper seek a critical review of the importance of data in monitoring
women participation in politics in Nigeria vis-à-vis the affirmative declaration. Also examine
factors militating against women participation in politics vis-à-vis the socio-religious and
economic limitation place upon them, despite the raising advocacy platform to ensure greater
inclusion of women in politics
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