The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) says the 10th National Assembly has less than 10 percent of female membership, describing it as embarrassing to Nigeria.
The NILDS representative, Titilayo Daniel, made the position in Sagamu, Ogun State, at a Town Hall meeting on female legislators constituency outreach tagged “Enhancing Women Political Representation.”
The programme was organised by the Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representative, Hon Adewunmi Onanuga (aka Ijaya.) in collaboration with Unwomen, Canada govt and the NILDS.
Addressing the gathering of over 100 grassroots female politicians, Daniel expressed worry over what she called “stark gender disparity” at the National Assembly.
“As of now, women make up less than 10% of the members of the National Assembly. This means that the voices of more than half of our population are largely absent in critical decision-making bodies.
“This is rather an embarrassing statistics for Nigeria as the giant of Africa when compared with other African countries such as Rwanda with 61.3%, South Africa with 46.2%, Malawi with 41%, Sierra Leone with 30.4% of women representation in Parliament,” she said.
The NILDS representative said Nigerian women continue to face several obstacles to participating in political life, saying structural barriers through discriminatory laws and institutions still limit women’s options to run for office.
She said NILDS with support from UNWomen has been providing training for female politicians to build their capacities in gender equality.
Speaking with newsmen, Onanuga expressed her commitment to women empowerment and gender equality through capacity building and inclusivity.
Represented by her Legislative Aide, Adebola Adejumo, the two-term lawmaker said there’s a need to encourage more women’s representation in politics.
“We are losing a lot. Nigeria should allow effective women to participate in politics,” Onanuga representing Sagamu/Remo North/Ikenne federally constituency said.