Most women aware of the state of our nation Nigeria, when it comes to the value placed on females in our society. The recent failure of the passage of the Gender and equal opportunities bill, and the increasing spate of violence against females leaves us in no doubt of the place assigned to women's issues; clearly at the bottom of the heap. Regardless of the power of social media in exposing these ills, females remain relegated to second class citizenship and our cries continue to fall on deaf ears, resulting in untold frustration within the female population.
Why does this continue to happen? Why don't women rise up and take control of the situation? Why don't women vote more competent women leaders into electoral positions?
For starters, we live in a patriarchal society where men still own and control majority of the economic resources despite the fact that there are more females than men in the population. Most females would not rock the boat because their garri and soup literally depends on the relationship that they maintain with the men in their lives. Also since men hold most of the money, and vast sums of money are required for engaging in politics, resources tend not to be readily available for females who wish to engage in politics.
Secondly, majority of females have been taught, a teaching emphasised by many of our mothers, that a woman's place is beneath a man and that she is nothing without a man to cover and protect her. Seeking political office or power is seen to contravene this belief and the few women engaging in politics are considered as being irresponsible and in extreme cases, accused of being women of poor virtue.
Additionally, the education of females in many families is frowned on and seen as a waste of the family resources, which results in a huge number of females missing out on the opportunity to get an education and gain independence. Independent women can make decisions for themselves about whether they can vote and who to vote for. Fewer independent women is a factor that affects the success of women seeking political office.
Finally, men and women in our society have also been unconsciously trained to distrust females in authority through the vehicle of gender stereotyping. Very often, we hear women in leadership being torn down because society judges leadership behaviour that is acceptable for men as a negative trait in women. For example, a male leader may be described as 'determined' while a female showing the same character trait will be described as being 'aggressive'. Women are expected to be nurturing rather than leading and as a result, society finds it difficult to accept women who aspire to leadership positions. This in itself is one of the greatest barriers to progressing women into societal leadership roles.
In the past, questions about the absence of females in leadership positions were not usually asked. Women either accepted what was seen as fate or discussed it in small groups with no result. Thankfully, with the rise of the use of Facebook and other social media tools, women are no longer consigned to huddle and complain bitterly. females are becoming aware, due to cross cultural exchanges from various media platforms, that we are not second class and that we should be partners with men in deciding our collective destiny. Our voices of discontent are growing and people are sitting up and beginning to take notice. The fact that the gender and equal opportunities bill was written is testament to the times that we live in.
So, what next? How can the problem of women taking backstage in political leadership be solved? How can the issues that females face on a daily basis be resolved? What part can we play in changing the situation over and beyond constantly speaking about it within our clusters and in the public domain? How can we create a wave of change to suit the female population?
Politics in Nigeria has always and continues to remain a male reserve. females have always been discouraged from taking any interest in politics. The average female on the street would shy away from actively participating beyond voting. As a result, the few women who venture into seeking elected positions are seen to deviate from the expected behaviour and hence are frowned on by society - the media do them no favours and the polity do their best to reduce them to cooks and pleasure providers for men at every turn. The statistics corroborate this, only 9 of the 108 senators are women and a similar ratio exists for the house of representatives. The situation is appalling. With such a small ratio, it is very obvious why female-centric bills would fail to make it across the house floor.
If women are to have a fighting chance at getting our voices heard at the national level, the perception that 'politics is only for men' needs to be changed and women must get into leadership positions within all levels of society. It is crystal clear that by having more competent women elected into office, women can shape the future of our society and ensure that we become valued members within it.
So I enjoin you woman, get involved today. Get some political education and see where it could take you.
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