“ Break the Bias” is theme for the year 2022 international Women’s day. A world without a glass ceiling over a woman’s career as discrimination, stereotypes and bias are eradicated.
While most countries are progressing towards a fairer and more liberal world for women with a handful producing their first female presidents and Prime Ministers, .. Nigeria is retrogressing.
Katerina Sakellaropoulou in 2020 became Greece’s first female president. As with Maia Sandu who in 2020as well became Moldova’s first female president .
Zuzana Čaputová Is Slovakia’s president since 2019, as is Paula-Mae Weekes Of Trinidad and Tobago since 2018 both their countries first female presidents amongst many others.
For Prime Ministers, we have the world applauded Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern of New Zealand; Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh; Kaja Kalas of Estonia; Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila
Of Namibia; Sanna Marin of Finland to mention a few serving their respective countries till date.
Deeply reflecting back home to Nigeria’s status quo on women especially in leadership; I’d call it a sad reoccurrence of deliberate systemic and cultural manipulations to alienate a gender representing half its country’s population.
Just last week, the parliament discarded 5 bills that would have accorded women some level of equity especially:
– that which would enable Nigerian woman married to foreign-born husbands grant their spouses Nigerian citizenship as it is with the Nigerian men married to foreign wives. And ;
– the bill to assign 35 percent of legislative seats to women, as well as reserve 35 percent of political party leadership, for women.
Amongst others.
May I remind Nigerians the Composition of the present Nigeria Senate;
109 SENATORS: Men 102, Women 7
360 MEMBERS of House of Rep; Men 347. Women 13
State House of Assembly; out of 999 members, only 45 are women.
There are 15 states with no women in the House of Assembly:
These states are; Kogi, Yobe, Sokoto,
Abia, Bauchi, Edo, Jigawa, Kwara, Taraba, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano, Nasarawa, Yobe and Borno.
Sickening it is to have anyone think Nigeria can progress by shutting the doors of opportunity to women who can offer socioeconomic, political and corporate growth to nation building.
Until we forge a formidable force ahead and break these chains of bias … it’s a long way for us all as a country.
Happy INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY