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Half the Population, Yet Women Still Missing in Politics

Editorial / Opinion Piece / Blog Post

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June 5, 2026

Half the Population, Yet Women Still Missing in Politics

Source: This Daily Live

As Nigeria’s political season gathers momentum, women are steadily losing ground in governance, raising urgent questions about democracy, representation, and whether Africa’s largest country is deliberately silencing half its population, writes Adedayo Adejobi

In the loud theatre of Nigerian politics, where ambition crackles through television studios, party conventions, and crowded campaign grounds, one silence has become impossible to ignore. Women are steadily disappearing from the room.

Not entirely, of course. They still organise rallies, mobilise voters, anchor policy conversations, and often carry the emotional weight of communities through economic hardship and political instability. Yet when the ballots are counted and appointments announced, the distance between women’s contribution and women’s representation becomes painfully obvious.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy and most populous black nation, now finds itself confronting an uncomfortable truth. At a time when many countries are widening political opportunities for women, the Nigerian political system appears to be moving backwards.

Full article.

Focus areas

As Nigeria’s political season gathers momentum, women are steadily losing ground in governance, raising urgent questions about democracy, representation, and whether Africa’s largest country is deliberately silencing half its population, writes Adedayo Adejobi

In the loud theatre of Nigerian politics, where ambition crackles through television studios, party conventions, and crowded campaign grounds, one silence has become impossible to ignore. Women are steadily disappearing from the room.

Not entirely, of course. They still organise rallies, mobilise voters, anchor policy conversations, and often carry the emotional weight of communities through economic hardship and political instability. Yet when the ballots are counted and appointments announced, the distance between women’s contribution and women’s representation becomes painfully obvious.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest democracy and most populous black nation, now finds itself confronting an uncomfortable truth. At a time when many countries are widening political opportunities for women, the Nigerian political system appears to be moving backwards.

Full article.

Focus areas