Human Rights of Women
Yola — "We have been marginalized and deprived of both socio-economic and political opportunities in Adamawa; they have sidelined Senator Grace Bent and kicked out Hon. Binta Masi Garba and only time shall tell the future of our only two female lawmakers. Therefore, we must wake up from this great slumber to fight for our rights," Madam Josephine Aboki has said.
Mrs. Aboki is among dozens of female activists who expressed their displeasure over what they called "marginalization of womenfolk in Adamawa State" at a workshop on strategies for developing female candidates for local and national elections.
The one-day workshop, which was organised by the state Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism in collaboration with
UNFPA was on the theme, "Access to political participation and presentation of women."
In Adamawa, like most parts of the country, women have encountered a number of problems while venturing into politics. There is alleged large-scale discrimination by the menfolk, both in election and allocation of political offices.
More often than not, men constitute a larger percentage of the party membership and this tends to affect women when it comes to selecting or electing candidates for elections in all existing political parties. Since men are usually the majority in the political party setup, they tend to dominate the party hierarchy and are therefore at advantage in influencing the party's internal politics.
It is obvious that women usually constitute a smaller percentage of political party membership due to socio-cultural and religious beliefs which most often tend to relegate women to the background. As a result, only very few men, even among the educated, allow their wives to come out and participate in politics.
Disturbed by this trend, the Adamawa State Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), organized a sensitization workshop for household heads, traditional and religious leaders from selected local governments on strategies for developing female candidates for local and national elections.
The speakers have described the minimal number of Adamawa women in positions in parliament and in political party structures as a dent on the democratic process.
They argued that if women constitute at least 51 per cent of the population and their numbers in political positions were not enough, then those institutions, especially the parliament, are not representative enough.
The speakers also include Mrs. Mary M. Sawa of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Yola who said that the development of a state and the promotion of democracy could only be meaningful and effective if the sections of the population are carried along, including women.
She said it is not only women who have been sidelined but other groups such as the youths, who must be considered for greater roles in every aspect of the democratic processes.
The lecturer added that to address these imbalances, there was need to review the electoral system and the political culture as a whole, all with a view to ensuring that every group, especially women, was made to increase the number of women in the decision making process.
Sawa buttressed her argument with a quote from the Beijing Platform of Action which states that, "Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspective in all levels of decision making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved."
She observed that the exclusion of women from governance was a major factor in the underdevelopment of most countries, stressing that the society is being deprived of the benefit of their expertise, knowledge and skills.
"Equal participation of both sexes in decision making will provide a balance that accurately reflects the composition of society and this will strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning. This, is turn, will help us to attain the constitutional imperative of gender balance in all aspects of public life," she said.
According to her, women under-representation or exclusion from the scheme of things was tantamount to "working while one hand, the most productive hand, is tied behind your back, as women form more than 50 per cent of the population."
Concerning the excuse given by most competent women that politics was a dirty game, therefore, it puts them off, she explained, stressing that the participation of women in politics and governance would create a new political culture and sanitise the system, since women would bring a different focus and perspective to matters, generally.
"Women understand their issues better and can represent their own needs and interests in terms of finding and implementing solutions to them more effectively than men. An increase in the participation of women will also enrich the political discourse," she noted.
In his contribution, Rev. Father Kelvin Francis, the chaplain Adamawa State University, said a strong and vibrant democracy was possible only if the parliament includes a wide range of the character of the population, adding that no parliament can consider itself inclusive until it boasts of the full participation of women.
He observed that sensitizing the political system to accept women required co-ordinate efforts at various levels by the government, parliament, other decision-making bodies, political parties, civil society organizations, the media and the family unit.
In his submission, a community leader from Gombi Local Government Area Alhaji Audu Na-Yelwa, was emphatic that with the emergence of pet projects of "first ladies", one may conveniently say that women organizations are now beginning to find a rallying point for common action in the political and socio-economic facets.
However, he was quick to point out that lack of adequate finance was a crucial hindrance to effective female participation in politics not only in Adamawa but Nigeria as a whole.
"A large portion of the female population is not as financially strong as their male counterparts. Family responsibilities and childbearing also hinder women from participating effectively in political activities. During a sizeable part of their adult lives, most women are involved not only in child bearing but also in child rearing. Thus, much of the time they may have wished to devote to politics is taken up by their maternal challenges and obligations," Na-Yelwa observed.
What future for women politicians?
The future prospects of Adamawa women in politics appear bright, though the road to full realisation of desired target is still rough. Indication to this is noted in the courage which Dr. Zainab Baba Kwonchi, the gubernatorial candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) had to challenge Governor Nyako in the governorship election in January. Kwonchi who had served as Nyako's commissioner said she accepted to contest the coming 2012 governorship election based on the prompting of well meaning male politicians.
By this development, Kwonchi has become the first female in the North East to indicate interest to vie for the governorship seat. The candidate earlier told our reporter in Yola that the clamour particularly by men was a clear pointer that the people of Adamawa wanted a woman for a change in 2012.
"Men encouraged me to come out and contest and I feel this is a challenge and an opening for the women to make history in Adamawa," Kwoncchi said.
"Let me make it clear to the people of Adamawa that I have no money like the others to share but I have the genuine intention to transform Adamawa," the ADC candidate said.
Kwonchi, who is a medical doctor and the immediate past Commissioner of Health in Nyako's cabinet, said the incumbent administration had not done enough, which is the reason she does not lose her sleep as she goes along in the race.
She said one of the foremost issues in her agenda is to improve on the present free healthcare given to pregnant women and children which she supervised as health commissioner under Nyako, as well as to actualise the Adamawa Health Insurance Scheme, which she said, is currently receiving lip service under Nyako.
"I will employ more doctors, particularly consultants to tackle the present shortage of doctors in the state as well as improve the state of facilities in our hospitals," Kwonchi said.
The central message from the confab is that until women are represented adequately, government and all decision-making processes, their priorities will not receive needed attention. But the question is whether the pastors, imams, household heads and community leaders who converged to press for greater women participation in governance will sustain the campaign in future elections.