Global goals 5

Funmilayo Ransome Kuti: Avatar Of Women’s Suffrage And Gender Equality
The greatest good you can do to others is not just to show your riches, but to reveal to them their own and it is savage madness to think you can increase your stature by making others feel smaller. The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people. In the award winning and epic book written by George Orwell in 1945, Animal Farm, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society because they were tired of their servitude to man, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

In this age where women and youths are taking pilot roles in redesigning the economy, Nigeria is still struggling with the ‘inevitables’ of a modern world; the world is adjusting to accommodate the philosophy of gender equality but it is poignant to know that Nigeria is pathetically lagging behind. The 27th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda this month with the theme, “African Year of Human Rights” will focus extensively on women empowerment, girl-child marriage and girl-child education.

Life is full of stories of great women that fought gallantly for the emancipation and freedom of the oppressed; women like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her passion for the downtrodden, Rosa Parks and her revolutionary courage against black segregation and Mary Slessor and her vigorous advocacy for women emancipation and the ritual sacrifice of twins. The fight for women emancipation in Nigeria was precipitated by women of strong will and undaunting courage, but there was one in particular that fought relentlessly for women’s suffrage; Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti is being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria.

In an era when women were seen as ‘domestic appendage’ (apologies to Professor Wole Soyinka), she rose beyond the demeaning tag and label of a common housewife to become a strong and unrepentant advocate for women’s emancipation. In her strange and unparallel adventure to dare the norm, she became the first woman in Nigeria and arguably the first in West Africa to drive a car, proving to her unrepentant haters that women are in no way inferior to their male counterparts. Her anti-imperialist and international feminist activities triggered the movement for women’s suffrage in Nigeria, a movement that later earned Nigerian women the right to vote.

In 1953, she founded the Federation of Nigeria Women Societies, which later formed a strong alliance with the Women’s International Democratic Federation. She vigorously used this global platform to campaign for women’s rights to education, employment and political participation. Her tenacity for women’s emancipation made her one of the strong delegates who negotiated Nigeria’s independence with the British Government. An informed rumour has it that the CBN is proposing the new five thousand naira note with Funmilayo’s image on it, I believe strongly that this will go a great length in charting a new course for gender equality as our Naira notes already have a bias against the female gender.

The world is full of women making giant strides in their various positions; Angela Merkel is the first female chancellor of Germany and one of the architects of the European Union. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the 24th President of Liberia and Africa’s first democratically elected female Head of State is serving her second term as President after winning the 2011 presidential election. In 2014, Anne Hidalgo became the first female Mayor of Paris and just last month, Virginia Raggi became the first female Mayor of Rome. Political calculations in Britain after the ‘Brexit saga’ had eventually produced a female Prime Minister, former Interior Minister, Theresa May emerged on the platform of the governing Conservative Party. If political speculations are anything to go by, then America may be on its way to elect its first female President! While, here in Nigeria, we are struggling to break the political embargo on having the first female Governor, not even thinking of a female President, the Nigerian 8th Senate is saturated with men and out of the 109 members, only 7 are women.

It was appalling to see how the Gender and Equal Opportunity (GEO) Bill was thrown away by the Nigerian Senate about some few months ago. The Bill was aimed at promoting equality, development and advancement of all persons in Nigeria as well as promoting women’s freedom of movement, female economic activity and girl’s access to education. The question that has consistently bordered my mind since March 15, 2016 is this: “How exactly are we meant to prevent violence against women and girls when parliament can’t pass the GEO bill? The bill would have been the first step towards moving the nation closer to one of the critical goals of the United Nations that borders on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

The bill sought to eliminate discrimination against any person, irrespective of gender, including sexual violence against women. The bill also gives women the right to fully participate in political activities including the right to vote and be eligible for all publicly elected offices without restrictions. According to the articulate senator that pioneered the bill, Senator Biodun Olujimi, representing Ekiti South, gender discrimination often makes women insecure, denies them meaningful employment and exposes them to discrimination and exploitation. How long will our lawmakers continue to reject a bill seeking to empower women socially, politically and economically as well as grant them equal opportunities with men? It was a pathetic show of shame some few days ago when a senator from Kogi State threatened to beat up his female counterpart in the hallowed chamber!

I have observed that the Nigerian political terrain is greatly flawed in its systemic disregard for the Nigerian youths. I want to encourage the president to infuse young and vibrant minds into his list of ‘masterminds’. Old ways won’t open new doors. Albert Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them”, we need renewed thinkers as ministers and special advisers, young innovative minds that will come together to build an economic blueprint for a new Nigeria. My sincere advice to Mr. President is that we desperately need a healthy mix of both the veterans and young minds to revolutionize and inspire a new Nigeria.

I would also like to encourage Nigerian youths to be fully involved in policy-making and to eliminate myopic apathy towards Nigerian politics. The candid truth about Nigerian politics is that we must be involved for it to evolve. Government should work towards ensuring equal opportunity and reduced inequalities, including eliminating discriminatory laws and policies. We must progressively adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies towards achieving greater equality for the women, youths and the socially disadvantaged group in the society.

On May 26, 2016, the House of Representatives passed for first reading a Bill seeking to lower the constitutional age requirement for contesting for elections in Nigeria. Hon. Tony Nwulu representing Oshodi/Isolo II Federal Constituency of Lagos State sponsored the bill otherwise referred to as the #NotTooYoungToRun bill. This bill will create the platform for youth inclusion and participation in the political process at the federal and state level. The bill seeks to reduce the age qualification for the office of the President from 40 years to 30 years; Governor (35 to 30), Senate (35 to 30), House of Representatives (30 to 25) and State House of Assembly, from 30 to 25 years. According to an independent research by the British Council, by 2030; “Youth not oil, will be Nigeria’s greatest asset”.

One of the defining truths of life is that no man will value you more than you value yourself. Zig Ziglar once said: “You may succeed if nobody believes in you, but you will never succeed if you don’t believe in yourself.” Your value does not decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth and never let someone’s opinion of you become your reality. I want to reach out to Nigerian women and youths with this powerful quote from Mart Twain, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.”
Next week, I will be writing on the twelfth goal of the SDGs which is “RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION”. Until then, act locally but think globally.
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