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In Nigeria today, women have been seen to have little or no representation in the political affairs of the nation. The role that the society have placed on women generally as belonging to the home, and having no say in other affairs that is outside the jurisdiction of their homes, have contributed to this backwardness and have hampered, in most climes; women taking active part in the political process. Even recently, President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted with saying that his wife, the first lady of the federal republic of Nigeria, Dr. (Mrs) Aisha Buhari, “belong to his kitchen, his living room and the other room”, after she commented on a major political happenings in the country. In other words, it means whatever she had commented on is irrelevant, as far as the president was concerned.
This has been the challenge women face today. Their opinions are not counted important by the men who are in politics, many of them have been stigmatized, called all manner of names, abused and even threatened; simply by speaking up about major issues that affects them and the nation. Even on certain occasion where they are given the opportunities to represent, the ratio of the men to women is nothing to write home about. For example, in this current administration, six female ministers made it to President Buhari’s cabinet from inception, out of which two have currently resigned. From 1999 till date, no woman has been Nigeria’s vice president or president of the senate. Only one woman managed to be elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives at some point (Mrs Patricia Eteh), a dream that was short-lived due to corruption allegation she was part of.
Few women had been privileged to be deputy governors of their respective states, a position which was ceremoniously bestowed upon, most of the times as consolation and to make them feel among. In 2015, one woman was able to brace the odd by contesting for the post of the President under KOWA party, Prof. Remi Sonaiya. Out of the fourteen contenders that year for the position, Prof. Sonaiya came at a distant twelfth position. This was a great fete actually, considering the fact that KOWA as a political party was just putting its structure together at the time. Those few brave women who had, one time or the other; managed to toe this path before her did not even make it out of the primary elections of their parties, not to talk of becoming their party’s flag-bearer.
A cursory look at women representation in Nigeria’s National Assembly from 1999 would send some shocks down your spine. In 1999 for example, only 7 women made it to the Senate out of 109, 4 in 2003, 9 in 2007, 7 in 2011 and 8 in this current 8th Senate Presided over by Bukola Saraki as the president. In the House of Representatives as well, out of the 360 members that it is composed of, 7 made it there in 1999, 21 in 2003, 27 in 2007, 25 in 2011 and 11 in 2015.
These figures shows how women has been grossly underrepresented in the nation’s political affairs since 1999 until now. Today, many countries of the world are making efforts to bridge the gap between men and women in politics. For example, the 2016 election in the United States saw Hillary Clinton clinching the Democratic nomination to represent them against the Republicans’ Donald Trump. Though the outcome of the election didn’t favour her and her party, but the event simply opened up a new chapter for women in the American history in the area of politics. But in Nigeria; the representation of women in Government even though improving, is still very low compared to what obtains in other climes, particularly in the developed nations.
It is upon this backdrop that Dr. Mrs Oby Ezekwesili is throwing her weight into the Presidential race in 2019. Although, the statistics and all the odds may not go in her favour right now, considering the political terrain of the country and the slavery mindset of certain Nigerians who believe becoming the president isn’t a role for women, Oby Ezekwesili has decide to test the waters and shatter this glass ceiling once and for all. She has been a fierce critic of the government in certain areas where she deemed they are not performing to their expectations. She is a firm believer in the office of the Citizen, which is the highest office in the land.
Many Nigerians have clamoured for the need to look at the alternative to the current quagmire that the past and the current administrations have put Nigeria into. Whether we agree to it or not, leadership has been at the forefront of Nigeria’s numerous problems. The ruling politicians and the two major political parties currently (PDP and APC) have failed woefully in delivering to Nigerians quality leadership and the gains of democracy. Between 1999-2015, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) threw Nigeria into some unimaginable depth of backwardness, and institutionalised corruption at every level of government.
Then, the All Progressive Congress (APC), composing majorly of people who defected from the PDP; promised change in 2015; and made Nigerians believed that they have been anointed to fight corruption and move the country forward. But the opposite had been the case. Nigeria had been further pushed into some unthinkable level of corruption, even under the supervision of President Muhammadu Buhari, our supposed anti-corruption crusader. Many Nigerians are tired of these lies being peddled by both the PDP and the APC.
The task of breaking the glass ceiling for Oby may be challenging, considering the fact that she is a woman; but it can be done! Many may be assuming that Nigeria isn’t ripe for a female president, but this is just a pure lie from the pit of hell. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was Liberia’s President for more than a decade. Liberia is Nigeria’s West Africa neighbour. Forbes magazine named Sirleaf as the 51st most powerful woman in the world in 2006. In 2010, Newsweek listed her as one of the ten best leaders in the world, while Time counted her among the top ten female leaders. That same year, The Economist called her “arguably the best president the country has ever had. That tells you it can be done in Nigeria as well!
To many of you already saying Oby Ezekwesili cannot win, good luck to all of you. There is no crime in giving it a short. This is the time we all must come together as a people and give brilliance, competence, hope and a new beginning a chance; and not be deceived once more by a false change narrative; as we look forward to the 2019 Presidential elections.
God bless Nigeria.