Hilda Esin
1 July 2008
Lagos — A non-governmental organisation, Gender and Development Action (GADA), has affirmed that the number of women's participation during the 2007 elections in the South West was higher than the previous elections.
This was disclosed by Director of GADA, Mrs. Ada Agina-Ude, at a roundtable in Lagos on a just concluded project tagged 'Project 300 Women' to support women's entry into politics and promoting gender equitable governance in South Western States of Nigeria.
Speaking at a project made possible with support from the European Union Initiative for Development and Human Rights (EIDHR), she said, "our women won more political position in the last elections due to their capacity. They are doing well. We have more aspirants now, more professional politicians, and women that are working side by side as politicians."
"Most women can come out in public and speak very well, and can speak to the media. We have established a kind of network in South West for female politicians and established full professional bodies in the South South. So, it is not a question of running up and down in the next elections," she said
Agina-Ude disclosed that during the election the project group supported the women in training on feminist transformative leadership to empower them, and embarked on various activities such as sensitisation and constituency building exercise in all the six states in South West Nigeria.
"We also carried out advocacy visits to the major political parties and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) in all the six states of the South West, to create awareness and raise issues on women's participation in elections and politics," she said
In addition to the feminist leadership training, other activities lined up in the phase of the project included media campaign, publicity for the women, a roundtable to build alliance for the women, appreciation from other states such as Ondo, Ogun, Osun, and Local Governments within Lagos state.
Agina-Ude commended the results of women gains at the local government election which recorded women 8.6 per cent, representing 2 per cent increase compared to 2003, albeit still a far cry from the minimum of 30 per cent or the desirable 50 per cent.
A breakdown of the figures showed that women were elected into the following positions: five Deputy Governors, 54 members of state Assemblies, 27 in the House of Representatives, and 9 senators.
According to the GADA official, over 110 women aspired and fought through the party primaries and stood gallantly as candidates for the presidency, governorship as well as national and state legislatures, a departure from previous elections where there were few women candidates.
Speaking to THISDAY, a legal practitioner and aspirant, Mrs. Kofoworola Martin, said she would embark on education, employment, health, and renewal of urban area such as removing of waste, sanitation, when she gets a political appointment.
"All these ensure progress in our society before the individual and society at large. I am passionate about youth empowerment. You get to a point in life that you cannot say you have achieved anything if you have not impacted on your environment to a appreciable degree beyond helping this person and that person", Martin said.
To her, "politics provides for one (if there is a platform) to do more and to reach out to more people and to facilitate better improvement and development that would impact and better peoples' lives".
Stating that what drew her to politics was a desire to improve law in women and youths, the aspirant said, "one looks at the present situation and you would see the reality that the gap is just too wide. We know that there is a lot we can do to reach that gap. That was what primarily motivated me to come into politics," she said
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