A Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Ilorin, Emmanuel Olugbade Ojo, has urged Nigerian women to vote wisely and demand greater political inclusion, saying the country’s democratisation process remains incomplete without the effective participation of women.

Ojo made the call while delivering a lecture at the South West Forum of the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), held at the NCWS Hall, NCWS Estate, Samonda, Ibadan.

The lecture, titled “Human Rights and Women Rights to Vote Wisely,” was delivered under the theme, “Right, Justice, Action for All Women and Girls in the Society.”

The former Chief of Staff to the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State said Nigerian women, who constitute a significant proportion of the country’s population, remained grossly underrepresented in political and decision-making positions despite their numerical strength.

According to him, women should move beyond merely participating as voters and become actively involved in political parties, contest for elective positions and demand concrete commitments to gender inclusion from political parties.

Ojo said women could use their numerical strength as voters to influence political parties and candidates by rejecting platforms that failed to provide clear opportunities for women at various levels of political leadership.

He advocated the adoption of a quota system to increase women’s representation in decision-making positions, urging that the proposed 30 per cent representation for women should be considered in the ongoing constitutional reform process.

The don also stressed the importance of grassroots empowerment, education and political training for women, saying inadequate political knowledge and financial constraints had continued to limit women’s participation in politics.

He urged women to build their capacity and develop the confidence to compete for political offices rather than settling for what he described as token appointments.

Ojo also called on the mass media to play a more active role in promoting gender equality by giving adequate coverage to women’s political activities, leadership and contributions to national development.

He said negative stereotypes about women had continued to influence public perceptions of their leadership capacity, adding that the media had a responsibility to promote more balanced and humane representations of women.

The political scientist identified social, structural and socialisation factors as some of the major explanations for the disparity between men and women in access to political power.

He noted that women’s traditional roles, inequalities in areas such as education and the economy, as well as childhood socialisation, had combined to restrict their participation in political decision-making.

Ojo urged Nigerian women to take advantage of the country’s democratic system to demand greater representation and hold political parties accountable for their commitments to women.

He warned that Nigeria’s democratisation efforts would remain a facade if a substantial proportion of the population continued to be marginalised in electoral and political processes.

Ojo, however, noted that women who attained leadership positions were often subjected to closer scrutiny than their male counterparts, and the failure of one woman was sometimes interpreted as evidence of women’s inability to lead generally.

He therefore called for sustained efforts by government, political parties, civil society organisations and the media to remove barriers limiting women’s participation in governance and ensure greater inclusion at all levels of decision-making.