Women Empowerment Education and Peace building Initiative (WEPBI) had a one hour live radio program on the topic “The Nigerian Woman and the 2023 General elections at Energy f.m 105.5 Enugu. Today 17TH March 2023.
The program which was centered on women participation in politics, giving regards to the 2023 general election s in Nigeria highlighted the barriers that are preventing women from participating in electoral processes either as electorates or as candidates vying for various elective positions.
Barr. Mrs. Nnenna Anozie, who was a special guest in the program said that there is a drastic drop in the number of women that made it to the National Assembly in the just concluded election for both house of representative and house of senate, she added that even the only woman that was in the presidential race later stepped down due to how the political space was becoming unhealthy for the women.
The former gubernatorial candidate under the umbrella of Fresh Party in Enugu State, in 2019 opined that the factors that gave rise to the nosedive in women’s participation in political processes includes: electoral violence, monetization of electoral positions, deliberate side lining of women by political parties, cultural restriction among others.
She added that for there to be a change the should be a total over hauling of the system and certain percentage should reserve for women , that women are good leaders and can perform beyond expectation if they are giving the chance to do so.
Ewoh Ogechi Florence, the communication officer for WEPBI who was also a guest in the program said that the 2023 general election was a blessing in disguise, because the citizens now know that their votes count and they have seen more reason why they don’t need to sell their votes.
On the issue of the drop in women participation in politics she said that there should be a re-orientation for women, because the challenge according to her starts from our mindset, that the change should start from the family which is the smallest unit of every society. There should be a total change in the way women are been viewed, that women are born leaders.
Ugochukwu Loveth Onyeka the Program officer for WEPBI who was also present in the program, while responding to a caller who called during the program said that women can still participate fully in politics and still take care of their families adequately, that the duty of handling the family should not be left to the woman alone, it should be shared between the man and the woman.
Some callers also called in to make their own contributions on the topic. Dr. Odazie who called in from Illah Delta state, said that women are black mailed not to go into politics from their homes, that there is a serious conspiracy by the modern day politician to deliberately sideline women from participating in politics. She concluded by saying that men should give their wives the free hand to go and contest for elective positions.
Another caller Mr. Justice from Enugu state, said that during the primary elections that were conducted on a party level, women delegates were seen not supporting their fellow women rather they prefer canvassing for votes in favor for the men, he added that he challenge start from women not supporting their fellow women whenever they come out to contest for elective positions.
Conclusively, for women to participate in politics fully there should be an overhauling of the system, everyone has a role to play, there is a great need for a change of mindset, women should be giving more strategic political seats to handle.
Women empowerment should also be looked into by the government and other relevant stakeholders , there should be more capacity building programs for women. Women group should also continue to canvass for an equal representation.
When you talk about competency in a leadership, the first thing that should come to your mind is a woman, because women have proven over time to be more competent leaders than the men.