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Group Advocates Quota For Women Representation In Govt

By Ijeoma Opara
01 August 2015   |   11:00 pm
THE Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre, (WARDC), has called for the adoption of quota system in Nigeria, to ensure adequate representation of women in governance. This call was made at a roundtable for engendering political parties for effective inclusion, held in Lagos, in partnership with Voice for Change. One of the speakers, Mr. Rotimi…

THE Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre, (WARDC), has called for the adoption of quota system in Nigeria, to ensure adequate representation of women in governance.

This call was made at a roundtable for engendering political parties for effective inclusion, held in Lagos, in partnership with Voice for Change.

One of the speakers, Mr. Rotimi Sankore, a Coordinator at African Health, Human and Social Development (Afri-Dev) said the quota system is an affirmative action that will play important role if adopted in the constitution. “If we ensure that at elections’ primaries, we include a certain percentage of women, it means that in the political process, we have started ensuring that women have representation in governance and so it has to be institutionalised in all the processes, in the parties from the lowest to the highest level.”

He also noted that the affirmative action should not only be observed in the elective positions, but also the appointive positions. “A lot of the special assistants and special advisers positions should be given through the quota system so that women will have the opportunity to play roles as vice presidents and even become president, because they would have played certain roles that have prepared them for bigger opportunities.

Sankore, however, noted that the quota system may have issues if people bring in women who they can control because they are not educated or eloquent, “the society will find faults with the affirmative action when influential people use the opportunity to fix in their relatives because they are women, we should frown at nepotism if affirmative action will be effective.”

The Executive Director WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi noted that the roundtable is meant to create a political process for an all-inclusive political participation and representation from the wards, local governments, states and national level. “Not less than 200 women have been recruited into various political parties of their choice to play active roles and also contest and occupy strategic positions within the various political parties from the local to the national level.

“We will also build capacity of not less than 40 young women between the ages 18-25 who possess the knowledge, skills, self-confidence and ability to mobilise both human and material resources required to compete successfully with their male counterparts in electoral contests for party positions.”

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