Raising the stakes for women in Nigeria project

IT became operational in Nigeria for the first time like elsewhere in some other African countries.  The women situation room was on ground for ten days to observe the pre-elections, elections and post-election period.  It has been done in Liberia, Senegal, Sierra-Leone and most recently Kenya.  

The room was designed to observe what went on during these periods across nine states of the federation including the FCT.   Forty Incident Report Officers who recorded reports of happenings in the nine states including FCT received calls from Nigerians on toll free numbers, worked 24 hours for the period of ten days and for the first time in Nigeria. The citizens were not just able to report incidents around them, but were able to get prompt intervention so that such incidents would not escalate unnecessarily.

The just concluded elections in the country attracted international concerns due to the peculiarity of the elections and past experiences of the country as regards electoral violence.  Predictions were made both on the terrestrial and celestial planes on what the fate of Nigeria would be after the election.  For instance, predictions were made with specific dates of Nigeria’s disintegration due to the aftermath of the elections, while others based their predictions on personalities that would win what position and of course, as usual, the electorates were never considered in the equations.

The elections are over, Nigeria, as the giant of Africa, has set the tone for the conduct of peaceful election for other African countries that would be towing the same path in the course of the year. 

Apart from Nigeria and Zambia which had concluded their elections this year, other African countries like  Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Sudan would be going to the polls later this year and come May 29 th when the baton of leadership would be handed over to the president elect, General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd), other African nations would be able to take a cue and emulate a peaceful transition and gradually attain a departure from the sit tight syndrome that has been part of African leaders over time.

It is no longer a hidden fact that women and children are the most vulnerable during conflicts and violence and due to the peculiarities of the just concluded elections, interest groups and stakeholders were not only concerned about the fate of women, they also put structures on ground to ensure that women are protected and incidents of violence against them were promptly reported and addressed.

A group which took this upon itself is the Nigerian women Platform for Peaceful Elections (NWPPE).  The idea was to align with what is obtainable in other African countries and boost the confidence of women with the knowledge that some people are watching their backs in case of any attach on them.   The Women Situation room was physically opened on the March 25, 2015  and for ten days, people worked round the clock for the course of women.  Nigerians put their call through to the centre which had a toll free call centre and cases were resolved by the Police and INEC desks situated in the room in a timely manner.

The National Coordinator Women’s Situation Room Nigeria Joy Ada Onyesoh, who said the operations of the situation room tagged ‘Peace is in our hands’ stemmed from the conviction of the platform added that she was persuaded to set up the situation room because it cannot continue to watch while helpless women and girls are being molested and intimidated in their quest to exercise their civic responsibility.
 
“Here in Nigeria, we are replicating what is already on ground in other African countries, but taking into cognizance our own dynamics and specific context which defers from country to country.  Women situation room in Nigeria is being hosted by the Nigerian women Platform for Peaceful Elections (NWPPE) which is comprised of different national women organizations cutting across the six geo-political zones and we are implementing this project in nine states including the FCT which are  Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Rivers, Kaduna, Gombe, Benue, Lagos, Plataea and the FCT.” Onyesoh said 

She said a 300-woman team was deployed tin the field to observe the elections in those areas and it was the first time Nigeria would have an all female observer team.  She added that it was very critical to have the observer team as a way of implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.

Onyesoh said another defining difference between the work embarked on by the women situation room and other elections observers is that the room did not just collate reports but acts promptly on information with the collaboration of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigeria Police and other stakeholders. 

She explained that the room is also into collaboration with the Yar’Adua centre working on what she termed ‘case 2015’ which is the content aggregated system for elections 2015 which she said implies that the situation room can get incident report within five minutes and act by the interpretations of political and media analysts in the room.

During a discussion session by a team of eminent contact women from other African countries like Liberia and Serria-Leone including their counterparts in Nigeria, the concession was that African women should continue to brave the odds against them in the political climates of their respective countries in order to make an impact and shape policy formations in those countries. Liberia was the first country to establish a women situation room, the initiator of the project Yvette Chesson-Wureh arrived Nigeria to participate in the country’s version explained that the political climate in African countries is experiencing a turn around as more women are coming forth for elective positions despite all odds.

She said the era of relegating women to the background is gradually phasing out in the political calculations of the continent.  Citing the election of the first female president in her country, Chesson-Wureh averred that the feat is a possibility in any other African country as barriers mounted against women to express their political inclination are most of the time man imposed. 

On her part, Dr Kadi Sesay who was a Vice Presidential candidate in  Serria-Leone said that the apportioned role of women in the home has always been used as excuses to make women stay at home and not be heard.  She said there is no rule on what particular role a girl or boy child should play in the home adding that it is just a human arrangement which stipulates that some particular roles and shores in the home are the exclusive preserve of girls. 

She wondered why a boy child would not be able to cook while the girl in the home is made to do all the cooking.  Sesay advised that it was time parents begin to close the gap that has already been created by them and the society where boy child is exempted from domestic house shores.  She opined that the creation of these demarcations on what a boy or girl could do in the home front had greatly affected the larger society where women are now seen as objects meant for the kitchen and not to be seen coming out to engage in politics.

In her submission, Yemisi Ransome Kuti, said there is need for adequate protection of women and girls with the assurance that Nigeria is safe for everybody. 

Her words, ‘We are not only concern about the safety of women in politics alone; we want a stop to the abductions of women and girls all over the country.  It is not about the Chibok girls alone, abduction of women and girls are taking place all over the country almost on a daily basis.  We want our women and girls to be secure and feel safe in their country’.

She lamented that men apportioned political positions to themselves while women are neglected.  She said elective positions should be given to women and at the same time, women should work hard to earn positions adding that everything in life is about struggle and that no one will be willing to drop opportunity on the lap of others without some struggles on the part of the beneficiary.
 
Professor Uche Azikwe outlined the many odds against women participation in politics but with the optimism that they can braze the odds with determination and persistence.

‘We also need for enabling environment to allow women participate adequately in the politics of our country.  We may say there is nothing in the constitution inhibiting their ambitions, well that is true but the way the political parties are structured and run put women in the background.  It is the men that decides on who is going to get positions, they would be the ones that would vote and invariably they would vote for a man.  And then the periods and time party meetings are scheduled do not favour the women.  Meetings are held in the dead of the night and we all know that these women also have responsibilities to their children and home.  The issue of finance is also an issue; we don’t have the money required in electioneering even though we might have good policy ideas, what happens, such ideas dies,’ she said.