Sola POPOOLA
Southwest political leaders have renewed commitment to giving equal opportunity and equal power to women in politics.
The chairmen of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) gave this commitment at a Zonal Seminar organised for Men leaders of Political parties. The Programme was organized by the UNwomen in collaboration with IPAC with support from Canadian government.
IPAC chairmen from Oyo,Ogun,Ondo Osun ,Ekiti and Lagos states attended the event held at Amor Hotel ,Ado-Ekiti with the theme “Promoting Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria Through the HeForShe Advocacy Platform’.
The party chieftains promised to priotise appointing women to key leadership positions, promoting women’s issues in party policies, and speaking out against gender-based violence and discrimination.
Welcoming the participants, the Ekiti IPAC Chairman Mr Daramola Owoola tasked political leaders to go back home and sensitize the people about the advocacy , to also encourage their wives, daughters, women generally to go into politics.
“ Women are better administrator, even at home, lets handle them and bring them into politics, don’t let us stigmatize them.
“The time for tokenism is over. Women’s political participation is not merely an act of fairness it is a necessity for effective governance and inclusive development. Women bring unique perspectives and solutions to the table, enriching the democratic process. Yet, structural, cultural, and institutional barriers persist, limiting women’s ability to engage fully in the political arena.
“In our respective roles as leaders, we must recognize the urgent need to address these challenges, including:
“Strengthening Support Systems: Political parties must take deliberate steps to provide a level playing field for women by enacting internal policies that promote gender equity.
“Financial Inclusion: Women face significant financial barriers in politics. We must advocate for funding mechanisms to support female candidates.
“Legislative Advocacy: We must institutionalize laws such as the Gender and Equal Opportunity Law and advocate for constitutional reforms that promote gender parity.”
Earlier , the UN women representative in Nigeria, Beatrice Eyong commended the Ekiti state government on the efforts made so far about inclusion of women in politics.
Eyong represented by Suzan Agadah stated that” non inclusion of women has continued to remain a challenge in Africa /Nigeria. It is important to support the government of the country where we believe its still suffering from non- inclusion of women .
“ Society becomes better when men and women come together to work in the leadership position for vibrant development . We are proud of Ekiti, we are ready to support them. Continue to set the good pace in Nigeria”
Agadah added that the programme was organized because “ we want development to occur in Nigeria . We are pushing gender equality in Nigeria society.
“Men and boys should be engaged to be champions of gender equality for meaningful development in the society . GBV can only be stopped by working together as men and women “.
She further added that the objective of He for She in Nigeria is to promote women political participation through the support of men.
“ The nature of patriarchal society is critical to the women participation in leadership positions”.
The UN women at the event sent a symbolic message to the state governor Oyebanji in recognition of his love for the advocacy of women inclusion in political participation and recognition.
While recalling that the governor was recently decorated as the He for She in Nigeria by the Ministry of Women Affairs, the UN women stated that “ we are renewing that he is our He for She.
Oyebanji , represented by the Director General, Bureau of Community Communication, Mrs Mary Osho- Omotosho stressed that Ekiti has a gender friendly governor .
‘The foundation was laid by former governor Kayode Fayemi and the wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi . The current governor is building on that and even surpassing .
‘We should continue to support the government of Oyebanji as it has the interest of women at heart. We have large number of women representation in the administration, elective and the appointed positions, at the state, House of Assembly and at the grassroots level “.
Also speaking ,the Commissioner for Women Affairs , Mrs Peju Babafemi represented by Mrs Taiwo Akinwumi urged men to always encourage women to go into politics.
“ By that ,they will be able to come forward for representation in the public . Women should also encourage other women to go into politics”.
Men participants at the event included all IPAC Chairmen in the South West appended their signatures to become ambassadors of the advocacy of He for She to promote women political participation and representation in the Nigeria society for even development
The Chairperson of the UN working group in Ekiti state, Reverend Dunni Richie appreciated the UN women, Canadian government and IPAC added that, “this is an important programme on women political participation. Engaging women in political participation is crucial to national and human development.”
She said ,”the demands of the Working Group includes, increased representation of women in political positions to achieve at least 35% representation of women in all political offices at the state and local government levels, legal and policy reforms to ensure that laws and policies promote gender equality and protect women’s rights in the political arena, combating Gender-Based-Violence (GBV) and harassment in politics to create a safe environment for women in politics, free from violence and harassment, financial support and resource mobilization to reduce financial barriers that hinder women’s political participation and to also create funding mechanisms and partnerships to support female candidates’ campaign expenses”.