Bukola Afeni
Experts has called for the inclusion of more women in governance positions in the country.
They made the disclosure at a high-level National Summit on Constitutional Inclusion of Women in Governance in Abuja.
The program was organised by the African Centre Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) through Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).
Speaking at the event, the Keynote speaker, Prof Oluwafunmilayo J. Para-Mallam, the Convener of the African Centre for Leadership and Strategy Development, stated that there is a gross underrepresentation and exclusion of women from the spirit of the Constitution.
According to her, Nigeria ranks among the ten lowest performers, with less than 4% female representation in the national parliament, compared to countries like Rwanda (61.25%), South Africa (46.1%), Namibia (44.23.
The Executive Director, Centre LSD, Mr Monday Osasah, said that women should be more represented in leadership position in the country.
He highlighted that despite our large population, women are left behind in decision making activities.
” The Country is lagging behind in terms of female political representation. The statistical profile of women in governance in Nigeria is way out of our population, and it does not reflect the educational and professional status of our country.”
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, said the Senate is ready to support women and will ensure that strategic decisions are taken to improve the number of women in leadership positions.
“We regularly ensure that women are given the support to bring them into the limelight. We are also involving them in leadership positions.”
He added that women are special species that can never be neglected.
The Founding Executive Director of Center LSD Dr Otive Igbuzor called on the National Assembly to ensure that policies are put in place to increase the representation of women in leadership positions.
He added that when women are included in government, there are better outcomes in society.
“All over the world, it has been recognized that when you want to accelerate development, you need to include women. They tend to provide better result in terms of budgetary allocation, education, health, water, and children’s issues.”
He further called for more representation of women in government which is at 4% at the moment .
