The Baobab for Women’s Rights group has demanded an increase in the representation of women in government.
Members asked that Nigeria’s next president should reserve 25 per cent of the political appointments for women.
The organisation regretted that compared to other countries in Africa, the Nigerian government had thrown women backward in terms of political appointment and governance.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
The Director of Programmes at Boabab for Women Rights, Anne Lawal, and the Lagos State Outreach Coordinator, Olawunmi Oni, stated these in an interview with Sunday PUNCH.
According to Lawal, Baobab would expect to see more women in the next administration beginning on May 29.
She said:
“That is what we expect them to do. We expect them to move higher, we’ve passed that stage where we still have to drag these issues. So, we expect that anybody that is going to be a credible candidate or worthy of that position of President should be able to have more women in appointive positions.
“They should come up with concrete strategies on how to keep the women in government and leadership positions across the board in our country. So, that’s what we expect of whoever wins.
“Of course, we would want 50 per cent in political appointments. It should be 50-50. Yes, we may sound ambitious, but I know it might not be able to get up to 50 per cent. But I do hope we can get there.”
Buraimoh stated that there were so many reasons why women did not partake in politics.
She said:
“Some have apathy to the political scene; there is also political thuggery and political violence generally. So, there’s apathy for some women around because of issues of violence in our society. Another reason why women shy away is the social ideology in society that women probably should sit back.
“So, you have a lot of women who are scared to come up because they have not socialised to think that way. Baobab, as an organisation, has tried over the years, to continue to build the capacity of women around political participation and the need to participate in politics.”
