Nigeria

Nana Shettima, wife of Vice-President Kashim Shettima and other stakeholders, says political equity and women’s empowerment are crucial to sustainable development in Nigeria.

They stated this at the Women of Worth Group Global Magazine unveiling and Award Dinner in Abuja.

Ms Shettima said Nigerian women had faced numerous challenges yet were relentless in achieving their dreams.

History was made on Monday, 29th April 2024 when Two Women were sworn-in as democratically elected Executive Chairpersons of local government councils in Gombe for the first time.

The Two Women who were declared winners of their various LGAs during the Council elections held last Saturday, 27th April 2024, are, Hon Fatima Binta Bello, Shongom LGC, and Egla Idris, Billiri LGC, all of them members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The struggle of Black women to be recognized, respected, and welcomed as leaders is an international one. Generally, Black women have been absent and invisible from leadership positions in many countries—including the author’s home country of Nigeria, where a historical dearth of women in political or official positions remains very much the case today, despite purported efforts by the Nigerian government to increase women’s participation in politics.

Key women inclusion advocacy groups in Nigeria and other stakeholders have kick-started a robust conversation on how more women would participate in politics going forward, especially starting from 2027 general elections in the country.

These women groups were led in the conversation in Abuja, by Gender Strategy Advancement Initiative, SheForum Africa and Well-being Foundation Africa, among others, on Wednesday where they brainstormed on how to secure more political positions for the women folks come 2027 General election.

UN Women, on Wednesday tasked media practitioners and organisations to empower the female gender and promote its participation in politics.

They made the call at the 2024 UN Women Nigeria Media Forum on “Escalating Media Action for Women’s Empowerment” in Abuja.

Ms Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said the call was necessary to reverse the poor representation of women in both elective and appointed positions in the country.

The CFP seeks to engage partners to support the implementation of activities on advancement of women participation in public life. The project will support actions that will enhance inclusion of women’s voice and their equal representation and participation in leadership and political processes. The call also focuses on supporting gender-sensitive reforms to ensure marginalized women are fully engaged to advocate and participate in the development of affirmative action. 

The German government in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, Hope for Family Development Initiative (HFDI) is set to train 300 women in three Southwest states on campaign strategies, leadership skills, and political engagement.

The project, tagged ‘Advancing Women’s Political Participation through Female Elected Candidates in South West Nigeria’, would be held in Osun, Oyo, and Ekiti states.

Other than serving the purpose of throwing up new leaders, the recent local council elections in Ekiti State presented a study on how state governors could hold back from interfering in people’s choices of leaders at the grassroots, mainstreaming gender inclusion and deepening democratic culture, among other lessons, AYODELE AFOLABI writes.