Women have requested for a state of emergency to be declared on women’s political representation in Nigeria, under the auspices of the Womanifesto movement.
The women made the appeal during the 2021 Womanifesto Dialogue, which took place on Monday in Lagos, and also launched the movement’s “Womanifesto Charter of Demands.”
“Connecting Voices for Transformative Leadership” is the theme for the conference.
Hajiya Saudatu Mahdi, the movement’s National Dialogue Chairperson, stated that Nigerian women had expressed interest in political engagement from the grassroots to the national level.
According to her, more women have pledged themselves to serve the country through all levels of electoral offices in Nigeria’s general elections in 2015 and 2019.
“There is a purposeful effort to try something new or to give more thought to women’s participation in government – both elective and appointive posts.”
“As a result, women are likely to be in a very ready position.”
“What’s missing is a push from behind in terms of political party support, family support, economic wherewithal and capacity, and, most critically, political will to push the numbers through policy and practice reforms.”
“We’re calling for a state of emergency because it works, and we’re not just going to say it.”
“We would act to ensure that we apply the appropriate amount of pressure to accelerate the declaration of a state of emergency because, for goodness sake, Nigeria is way behind,” Mahdi said.
She also stated that more significant policy and practical adjustments are required to ensure that the number of women in politics grows.
“The numbers of talented women are available,” Mahdi stated.
Mrs Abiola Afolabi, the dialogue’s organizer, also stated that the Womanifesto Charter of Demands has five main issues that the movement is urging the government to solve.
According to her, the campaign is focusing on five core issues: political involvement, women and the economy, sexual reproductive rights, violence against women, and human capital.
“Womanifesto is collaborating with a number of other organizations that deal with women in policymaking.”
“We’re also making sure that when there are nominations for people to attend training or be in one of the programs, we make sure that young people are included,” Afolabi added.
Women are bringing values into politics, according to the organizer, but many of those ideals have not been recorded.
According to her, one of the goals of the program is to guarantee that people understand what women want so that they can use it to articulate their demands and the issue of women in politics.
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