Nigeria’s democracy can’t thrive without women in politics, says ex-presidential candidate

Benedicta Egbo, a professor of education and 2023 presidential candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), says Nigeria’s democracy cannot thrive without the active participation of women in politics.

In a statement on Wednesday, Egbo called for the creation of public and private support networks to enhance the chances of women seeking political office.

She said Nigeria is at an important historical point and that the country’s progress depends on women being equal partners in governance, in ways that transcend “symbolic tokenism”.

“The time is now. Indeed, the national parliament and other relevant parties should, as a matter of urgency, enact laws that guarantee women’s greater participation in politics and democratic governance in the country in the interest of equity, fairness and national unity. It is the patriotic thing to do for the common good,” the statement reads.

She said reforms must include removing barriers to campaign finance, addressing cultural impediments, tackling gender-based violence, and building women’s capacity through mentorship and political literacy programmes.

Egbo said no sustainable development can be achieved without the inclusion of women in public decision-making.

She warned that sidelining women from politics and governance is the same as excluding half of Nigeria’s population from the processes of nation-building.

“Put differently, the transformative development we seek and yearn for in Nigeria cannot take place without co-opting women and giving them a seat at the table,” she said.

The former presidential candidate described gender equality in politics as fundamental to good governance and democracy, calling for affirmative action laws that would guarantee women a fair share of parliamentary seats.

She suggested reserving between 30 and 35 percent of seats for women, but said quotas should only serve as a starting point.

Egbo lamented the “gross under-representation” of women in political leadership, noting that previous attempts to pass a gender equality bill in the national assembly had failed.

She cited recent data showing that women occupy only 3.9 percent of seats in the house of representatives and 2.8 percent in the senate, ranking Nigeria 177th out of 181 countries on the Inter-Parliamentary Union index.

Egbo said the figures place Nigeria on a “downward trajectory” in gender representation, even as countries such as Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique record far higher levels of female participation in parliament.