U.S. envoy, others want more women in politics, girls in school

The need for increased investment in the education of girls and greater participation of women in politics has been brought once more to national discourse.

United States consul-general, F. John Bray, had noted this in his keynote address at the 17th annual conference of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), in Lagos at the weekend.

In the same vein, facilitators at the fifth edition of ‘She Forum Africa 2018’ in Abuja yesterday encouraged women leaders to continue working to promote gender equality in Nigeria.

At the summit entitled ‘It Is Possible’, they pleaded for Nigerian women to be supported to win elections at the local levels, insisting that it would have a multiplier effect on other levels as well as reassure both potential female candidates and party leaders that women could win competitive elections.

They cited Rwanda where the approach proved very successful, making the country the world’s highest proportion of female parliamentarians at 64 per cent.

“Nigeria cannot achieve its dream of a prosperous and inclusive society without reinventing its approach to how it treats the overwhelming majority of the women and girls that live in the country. It may be up to you to change the tenor of the national discourse and prod Nigeria to place education and health, and the status of women and girls higher on the national agenda,” the said.