Over 150 Nigerian women groups, representing different regions,
ethnicities, social and political allegiances and organizations for
youths and persons with disabilities, have condemned the ministerial list submitted to the Senate.
Their grievance was contained in a letter on Thursday jointly signed
by Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi, Executive Director, Women Advocates
Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), Ms. Ebere Ifendu, Convener,
Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Dr. Felicia Onibon, Founder, 100 Women
Lobby Group and Dr. Nkoyo Toyo, CEO, Gender and Development Action
(GADA).
The memo expressed dismay and utter disappointment that 87 percent male dominated the ministerial list.
It read: “This list maintains and reinforces the historical exclusion
of women in the country, ignores the youth and people living with
disabilities and thus inhibits the critical goal of achieving
meaningful, equitable and participatory national development.
“The list submitted by Mr. President reneges on the repeated campaign
promises by his government and creates a crisis of confidence in the
integrity of our elected political leadership.
“Therefore, we write to convey a clear message of national importance
to the nation, Mr. President, the legislature and those nominated as
ministers.
“We wish to remind you about the unavoidable consequences of failing
to use the appointment exercise as a tool to steer the affairs of
country towards a desirable and sustainable future. Such a future is as
conceived by well received and established best practices and
obligations arising from the 2030 Global Agenda of the United Nations.
“It is with this in mind that we urge you, your colleagues and other
decision makers, to remember the weighty privilege the nation entrusts
to the few chosen to serve Nigeria as ministers.
We therefore request that you:
1. Solemnly remind all the distinguished Senators charged with the
responsibility of “screening” the nominees for ministers, that more than
any other moment in our history, they have a responsibility to
Nigerians to act diligently in terms of their engagement with these
nominees.
2. That you remind and require them to also serve as advocates and
representatives of the millions of excluded groups as well as women of
all ages who have a lot to contribute to the future of the country but
are ignored and marginalized.
3. That you remind our honorable senators to bear in mind that, what
they say and do as leaders in chambers, can positively advance our
collective existence which in actual reality should mirror the country’s
demographics, with a focus on equitable gender representation as well
as the inclusion of diverse skills, expertise and knowledge.
4. That you encourage all senators to speak up and challenge
government at all levels on the matter of women’s inclusion.
Specifically, that they demand that equity is done in terms of the
numbers, spread, roles and location in governance and government by
female nominees (such that the few women on any list are not consigned
to insignificance).
5. We ask that Senate draws the attention of the President and
governors to Nigeria’s commitment to several National and International
obligations such as the United Nations SDGs – which specifically put an
onus on Nigeria to dramatically improve on its embarrassing levels of
inequality.
6. We ask that Senate note in particular, that 30-35% has been
reserved in some national policy documents, and that within our National
laws, there are provisions that categorically call for the inclusion of
youth (not too young to run) and persons with disabilities. We ask
Senate to recall and operationalize the provisions of the 2006 National
Gender Policy and the constitution of the ruling APC on these issues).
7. We ask you and other distinguished Senators to send a clear
message to the Executive that women and other groups excluded from fair
representation are your political constituents. As responsible leaders/
representatives of the people, we ask you to object to any list by the
Executive that significantly excludes your constituencies who have
informed you of their desire to be fully involved in the issues that
affect them.
8. Lastly, we insist that the inclusion of constituents is actually
an indispensable strategy for stemming the multi-faceted dimensions of
political, social and economic crises facing Nigeria.”