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The Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, has called for more women parliamentarians in the country.
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He made the call at the opening session of a two-day workshop on ‘Advancing Gender Responsive Legislations through the Establishment of Women Caucus in the National Assembly’ organised by the NILDS in partnership with United Nations Women, which took place at Protea Hotel, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
The event drew women parliamentarians from Sierra-Leone, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Cote d’Ivoire.
The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Claudiana Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, who declared the two-day conference open, said there could be no better time to call for gender balance in the parliament to give vibrant women the opportunity to support men parliamentarians to move the nation forward.
Sanwo-Olu expressed belief that the conference would help Nigerian women parliamentarians to learn from their counterparts from other countries at the workshop to improve women representation in governance in Nigeria.
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In his remarks, Sulaiman said the event was aimed at supporting and intensifying efforts and advocacy around socio-economic, political and legal reforms towards improving women’s socio-economic conditions and representation in governance.
He expressed hope that this would translate to the creation of a broad-based, multi-party women’s caucus in the National Assembly as a platform of solidarity and organisation among women parliamentarians in Nigeria as well as creating a sense of unity of purpose among female parliamentarians irrespective of party affiliations to promote gender inclusion.
“Gender inclusion is important for inclusive and sustainable development. Despite this recognition, limited progress has been made in promoting gender inclusion and women empowerment in Nigeria in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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“The outcomes of the 2023 general election where less than five per cent of female candidates won their elections, further accentuate the poor state of women representation in governance in Nigeria,” he said.”
In her goodwill message, United Nations Women Country Representative for Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, advised women to work together, support one another and push one another to achieve the goal of the workshop.
Eyong, who said the conference was apt and timely, called for a common platform and coordinated approach as the country is going through constitutional as well as electoral reforms conversation.
She remarked that many countries have made progress in achieving women leadership and keep increasing the number of women in the parliament, adding that there was a need for more women parliamentarians in Nigeria.
Former deputy governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Adebule, urged the participants to make the best use of the workshop to promote women in governance.
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