In promoting and advocating for the revisiting and passage of the Gender and Equal Opportunities bills in Nigeria, the Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) in collaboration with Ford Foundation has organized a one-day interactive dialogue to establish a network of female journalists and frontline advocates that are committed to it.
Speaking at the event held in Abuja, the President, Women in politics Forum, Ebere Ifendu laments that women who were supported by women groups to attain appointive or elective positionse are not accessible to other women.
“It hurts me so badly because we worked to support these women and when they get there, they don’t want to respect other women. When you talk about accessibility, the male parliamentarian are very easy to access, unfortunately, it’s the females that are not accessible”.
She urged journalists to continue to work with them, adding that it is also good to work with men that will get the job done. “when the female lawmaker sees that you are moving ahead without them, they will start struggling to be part of what we are doing, for me though, I want men to present all our bills, not women. The five bills that failed helped us to achieve that and for the first time, it helped us to bring women groups together to fight for the passage of the bills. The media should also look beyond when the bills are passed”.
Similarly, Emmanuella Azu, head of programmes, Women Advocate Research and Development Centre (WARDC) stated that the bills are not for the Nigerian elite because this group of persons are already empowered. “In Nigeria, the population of vulnerable women is more in number, so the bill is aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of the less disadvantaged in the society. The whole essence of the bill is to bring all Nigerian women at par with each other on one hand and also at par with the male folk. An enlightened woman contributes to the development of the nation”.
Charity Anaja, Women in Politics Forum said the gender and equal opportunities bills is the bill that seeks to institutionalize the rights of persons and not necessarily women.
“We need to talk to our 4 women in the National Assembly to have the right attitude with the men and work towards ensuring that the bill is passed because the bill seeks to bring women to the limelight and also keep them on equal playing ground with the men”
