In the spirit of fairness, justice and to ultimately attain the status of an egalitarian society, stakeholders across board must be perturbed about the legitimate process which focuses at ensuring women’s rights are entrenched, and that relevant legislation and policies are put in place to perpetually give it life.
Specifically, women’s rights are part of the fundamental human rights that are recognized in international human rights treaties. While Nigeria has acceded to a number of international instruments on the promotion and protection of women’s rights, women in Nigeria have yet to realize their rights.
The Nigerian Constitution requires that international treaties be domesticated before they apply in the country. Sadly, most of the international instruments on the promotion and protection of women’s rights have not been domesticated. One of the reasons is inadequate representation of women in the country’s parliament.
This is despite the fact that the right of women to participate in decision making processes at all levels is guaranteed in both international and domestic instruments.
Poised with the rightful zeal to change the narrative, the Nigerian women defied the inclement weather and other risks associated with the time and season in Nigeria, converged at the country’s parliament in Abuja to protest its decision to vote against the adoption of five gender bills.
As early as 8am on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 hundreds of women showed up at the National Assembly Complex, around the highbrow three Arms Zone corridor in the Nigerian capital to demonstrate against the Senate’s decisions at Tuesday constitution amendment session.
After two years of deliberations, the legislature had voted on a series of bills to amend the controversial 1999 constitution, adopted during the transition from military rule to democracy that year. One of the amendments, if passed, would have granted citizenship to foreign-born husbands of Nigerian women; the Nigerian constitution already confers automatic citizenship on foreign-born wives of Nigerian men. Another would have given a woman the right to become indigenes of their husband’s state after five years of marriage.
The women said the proposed gender bills that were rejected are targeted at addressing the current gender imbalance across the legislative arm of governments across the country whilst reducing the under-representation of women in political office.
They also argued that the lawmakers have chosen to deny women basic human rights, rights enjoyed by every Nigerian except women. According to them, men of the ninth Assembly have reinforced the discrimination and political bias against women as enshrined in the constitution by:
1. Denying citizenship to a foreign-born husband of a Nigerian woman. (While it allows Nigerian men’s foreign-born wives to be awarded automatic citizenship);
2. Denying Nigerian women indigeneity through marriage;
3. Denying 35 per cent appointed positions for women and settling for 20 per cent;
4. Denying women affirmative action in party administration and leadership; and
5. Denying specific seats for women in the National Assembly.
The women in one voice further articulated that the men of the ninth Assembly, by their actions, have taken women backwards, adding that their actions undermine the importance and relevance of women’s contribution to the governance of Nigeria including the key role women play to bring victory to political parties in elections at all levels across the country.
It is however observed that sponsors and lobbyists of gender-related bills usually face an uphill battle in the legislature due to religious sentiments. In 2021 for example, a similar bill seeking to promote gender equality in employment and property inheritance was discarded for the third time after male senators from the northern region complained that such bills were ‘’anti-Islam”.
To enact constitutional changes, the vote results have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the 36 state parliaments and then sent to Mr. President for assent. The protesting women are therefore asking that Tuesday, March 1, decisions of the Federal parliamentarians be reviewed before the final step is subsequently taken.
However, the Nigerian women have loudly had their say on Wednesday in the widely publicized, legal and well organized protest. It is simply right and appropriate for the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly to speedily call for the recommittal of those referenced gender bills so that they can be reconsidered and voted on, hopefully with favorable outcomes that could address the concerns, interests and aspirations of the women such that Nigeria’s democracy could be strengthened and accommodate more female participation.
-Ajibulu is the publisher of veracitydesk.com.ng, an infopreneur, communication consultant and social media influencer. He wrote via emmanuelajibuliu@gmail.com
