African Journal of Political Science and International Relations Vol. 4(2), pp.

075-082, February 2010

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/ajpsir
ISSN 1996-0832 © 2010 Academic Journals

Review

Women’s participation and the political process in

Nigeria: Problems and prospects
Damilola Taiye Agbalajobi
Department of Political Science, College of Management Sciences, Redeemer’s University (RUN), P. M. B. 3005,
Redemption city, Ogun State, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: +2348057006670.
Accepted 31 December, 2009

Nigerian women constitute about half of the population of the country and are known to play vital roles
as mother, producer, time manager, community organizer and social and political activist. But despite
the major roles they play and their population, the society has not given recognition to these and to the
fact that they are discriminated against. This is due to some cultural stereotype, abuse of religion,
traditional practices and patriarchal societal structures. Nigerian women have therefore over the years
become target of violence of diverse form based on their positions in promoting transformative politics.
The research methodology is termed qualitative research and with the use of secondary data gathered
from university libraries, news print and journals. This paper will therefore examine the theoretical
perspective of the discrimination and inequality suffered by women; secondly, access the current
status of women in politics and the various efforts made by them for their political empowerment;
thirdly, identify problems women face in their quest to participate in politics and lastly suggest possible
measures for their political empowerment.

Key words: Women’s participation, political participation, political process, patriarchy.

INTRODUCTION

According to Afolabi et al. (2003), women constitute over inequality and exclusion, especially in the area of politics’.
half of the world’s population and contribute in vital ways to The movement for alleviation/eradication of gender
societal development generally. In most societies women discrimination is also a multiple consequence of this
assume five key roles: mother, producer, home-manager, system of beliefs and cultural values and norms.
community organizer and socio-cultural and political These societal beliefs, as well as ethnic and most times
activists. Of these roles mentioned, the last has been religious doctrines and norms, have turned into self
engendered by women movements attributed to historical fulfilling prophecies. Sex role socialization assign distinct
gender discrimination and inequality. Hitherto the emer- and often unequal work and political positions to
gence of these movements, gender roles was divided biological sexes turning them into socially distinct gender
between the male and female sexes. These roles can be -economists see this as the sexual division of labour. This
broadly classified into- the productive and the reproduc- concept is central to the Nigerian political system where
tive gender roles. Whereas the productive gender roles sexes are assigned to different complementary tasks, now
were mainly associated with the male sex, reproductive inherent in the labour market and the political scene (sector).
gender roles were exclusive to their female counterparts.
This societal reality was deeply rooted in the cultural
beliefs and values of societies in the world. “…from those THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
societies we might want to call most egalitarian to those
which sexual stratification is most marked, men are the Over the years, there has been raging debates over the
locus of cultural value. Some area of activity is always participation or desire of women in Nigerian politics.
seen as exclusively or predominantly male and therefore Some argue that: Women are regarded as weaker sexes
overwhelmingly and morally important” (Rosaldo and are social constructs owing to social value, norms and
Lamphere, 1974: 20-22). ‘As a consequence, women had beliefs, which have neglected their meaningful contri-
for long suffered various forms of gender discrimination, butions and have placed them in a subordinate position
076 Afri. J. Pol. Sci. Int. Relat.

to men in the nation’s political system. This ‘sexual in serious jeopardy. We still have a long way to go and
division of labour’ in the political system is often traced to the United States must remain an unambiguous and
the onset of colonialism in Nigeria. Their Western cultural unequivocal voice in support of women’s right in every
notion of male superiority reflected in their relations with country, every region, on every continent.” Hillary Clinton.
Nigerians. The 1922 Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution disen- Undertaking an academic exercise such as a discus-
franchised women and limited the participation of adult sion on women’s participation in Nigerian politics will
male to the wealthy. This is not to say that there was no induce creating new, or agreeing to existing conceptual
existing element of gender inequality in traditional state frameworks in gender and politics. Political participation
and stateless societies in Nigeria but that the colonial here entails various variables of participation but basically
order made gender discrimination more pronounced. In voting in elections, contesting elective [public] offices.
traditional Yoruba states, for example, women held high This is quite different from representation. Representation
political offices like the Iyalode, Iyaloja, Iyalaje and even is basically entails elective/public offices held in relation
the office of the Oba. But at the establishment of the to other representation. For instance, the increase of
colonial order, women became estranged to these rights votes cast by women in elections from 10 to 40% of total
politically, but in the Yoruba Kingdoms they could still votes cast in eight years signifies a form of increase in
perform their traditional roles. participation. But when the number of women holding
The political enfranchisement of women in Nigeria public offices, when compared to men, is relatively low
politics seems to have maintained on the surface a level there is under-representation. That is, there may be an
of gender equity politically, because it is assumed that increase in participation of women and yet under-repre-
constitutionally there are not barriers to women’s sentation of women in politics; or there could be high-
participation. But what exactly is/are the problems and representation of women in politics and yet low-level of
prospects women encounter in their quest to participate participation, depending on the standards used to
in politics? Women movements can be said to have been measure participation, however, the former is rather com-
largely responsible for increase in political participation of mon. In his work The Objectives of Man and the Nature
women. Kira Sanbonmatsu recognized an important of Their Political Relations, Chapman (1993:11) was able
variable responsible for the increase in women participa- to discover that:
tion other than women movements. In her study, she
concluded that “women would be even more supportive “Men are the major determinants of political actions
of electing more women to public office if they were and inactions generally concerned with the perpe-
knowledgeable as men about the extent of women’s tuation of power of the state…when women compete
under representation” (Sanbonmatsu 2003:367). with men for access to political power, they do so on
She also went further to distinguish their ‘descriptive’ the terms already established by men for compe-
representation from ‘substantive’ representation. Descrip- tition among themselves. The success of women in
tive representation referred to the representation of their politics like that of any group cannot be achieved
respective constituency, whereas substantive referred to within a system without displacing or replacing the
representation based on gender (the prioritizing of the existing elite. And a change in values which cannot
pursuit of women interest by female representatives). occur independently in the socio-economic as well
Thus, is women’s participation actually substantive – for as political relations, without clear involvement of
the pursuit of the interest of women; is women’s participa- women in the political process through holding of
tion actually descriptive – for the pursuit of the interest of various offices (positions) and make known their
their constituency; or is women increase in political own ambition through consciousness and effective
participation a movement in itself? This study is aimed at involvement in the political scene a condition which if
evaluating women’s participation in politics; those factors absent allows or facilitates the political elites
responsible for increase in participation and those that dominated by and govern women remain the same”.
hamper participation. This study is also to determine if We will agree that the male predominated political
substantive representation is fundamental to women environment has preconditioned the environment that
participation or not. Finally, this study is to determine their female counterparts compete with them in.
other intervening variables that affects women’s increase Consciousness and involvement of women changes the
in political participation and informs their intention to do values to enable a freer-for-the-women political
so. environment. That is “…the fact of women’s under-
representation, if made known to the public, could shape
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK political behaviour” (Duerst-Lahti and Verstegen, 1995).

“If half of the world’s population remains vulnerable to THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

economic, political, legal and social marginalization, our
hope of advancing democracy and prosperity will remain Throughout recorded history in all part of the world, women
 Agbalajobi 077

have been subjected to domination by men. This is as a CURRENT STATUS OF WOMEN IN POLITICS
result of persisting cultural stereotype, abuse of religious
and traditional practices, patriarchal societal structures in The 1979 Nigerian constitution guaranteed the rights of
which economic, political and social power are dominated women to participate in active politics; however, the last
by men and the role women have historically played as decade has witnessed a relative increase in women’s
the followers of male political leaders. participation. This is only when we measure increase in
This form of discrimination is not simply an African or participation with certain standards like the number of
Nigerian phenomenon but a global one. The only women who vote in elections; the number of public
difference is that, it has lasted for so long in this part of offices held by women; number of women related policies
the world as other developed nations of the world are implemented by government etc. Over the years, there
moving towards gender equality and equity. Women are has been a remarkable increase in women’s participation
unjustifiably discriminated against in many ways. For in politics in Nigeria considering these standards, yet
instance in some courts and police stations in Nigeria there is inherently a pronounced level of under-
today, women who propose to stand for sureties for representation of women in politics when compared with
accused persons who have secured bail routinely their male counterparts.
disqualified simply because they are women. Women’s aspiration to participate in governance is
In spite of the fact that world over today, democracy premised on the following ground; that women in Nigeria
has become a vital tool for attaining sustainable develop- represent half of the population and hence should be
ment; the impact of the definition of democracy remains allowed a fair share in decision-making and the gover-
elusive. Political participation which is sine qua non of nance of the country. Secondly that all human beings are
democracy and allows for diversity of opinion and equal and women possess the same rights as men to
participation of both men and women cannot thrive by participate in governance and public life. The right to
excluding the women folk that constitute half of the democratic governance is an entitlement conferred upon
world’s population. all citizens by law. The 1999 Nigerian constitution by
According to Anifowose (2004) some established virtue of Section 40 states the following:
democracies like Britain and the U.S., democratic poly-
archies, for a long time, were in fact male polyarchies. Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely
Even famous advocates of democratic and republican and associate with other persons, and in particular
government rejected claims that women should be full he may form or belong to any political party, trade
citizens. For the most part, they adopted the prevailing union or any other association for the protection of
view that the proper role of women was marriage, his interests: Provided that the provisions of this sec-
procreation and family, not politics. Thus, John Locke tion shall not derogate from the powers conferred by
held that “all men are by nature equal, they never recom- this Constitution on the Independent National Elec-
mended that women be allowed to vote and considered it toral Commission with respect to political parties to
more or less self-evident that in family matters, the which that Commission does not accord recognition.
husbands have the final say (Anifowose, 2004).
Tracing the historical origin of male domination Section 42(1) of the same constitution states further that:
according to Anifowose (2004) is impossible, but believes
that one highly plausible explanation is to be found in A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic
physical difference. Men are generally heavier, taller and group, place of origin, sex, religion or political
even physically stronger than women and therefore more opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a
capable than women to enforce their will through physical person be subjected to any form of discrimination.
violence and threat of violence. Women on the other
hand are vulnerable because of their role of child bearing This further confirms that you can go to court to seek
and nursing. In addition, discrimination and subjection of redress if as a woman your franchise is violated and that
women is further enforced by custom, traditional, the constitution as a whole prohibits discrimination on the
practices, beliefs and the law, behind which stood the basis of sex. Section 77 of the Constitution also states:
coercive force of the state.
In sum, the key point is that discrimination against (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution,
women has its root in the nature of our societies which every Senatorial district or Federal constituency
celebrate men as being unique, stronger and fit for the established in accordance with the provisions of this
public space while women are feeble and weak and Part of this Chapter shall return a member who shall
meant to stay within the confluence of the private space. be directly elected to the Senate or the House of
This has gone a long way to affect women’s perception of Representatives in such manner as may be
politics and has therefore lead to a very low level of poli- prescribed by an act of the National Assembly. (2)
tical interest, knowledge and activity of women in politics Every citizen of Nigeria, who has attained the age of
078 Afri. J. Pol. Sci. Int. Relat.

eighteen years residing in Nigeria at the time of the 1970), which is an important concept in explaining gender
registration of voters for purposes of election to a inequality. Literarily, it means “the rule of the father”;
legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered more broadly, it refers to a society ruled and dominated
as a voter for that election. by men over women. This is inherent in most African
families. Giving men a higher social status over females
From the foregoing, it appears that there is nothing in the has crept into public life, which reflects in state activities.
constitution, which excludes the participation of women in The family plays an important role in maintaining this
politics in Nigeria. Yet when it comes to actual practice, patriarchal order across generations. The socialization of
there is extensive discrimination. Few and almost children to expect and accept different roles in life has
insignificant number of women were elected into various created a social mechanism for the development of
posts in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 general elections held values that engender the several forms of discrimination
in the country. Men dominate most public offices till date. against the female sex. The greatest psychological wea-
Female gubernatorial candidates have emerged but none pon available to man is the length of time they have
has ever won and same goes for the Presidency. enjoyed dominance over women, who have taken it for
Legislative representation has witnessed the presence of granted especially in the area of politics that often con-
women yet they remain under-represented when tinue to stereotype women and justify their subordination.
compared to their male counterparts.
Following two decades of military rule statistics reveal
that women only secured 3% representation in contested Virility deficiency – women’s conception of politics
positions in 1999, 4% in 2003, while in 2007 they made
with only 6%. Few and almost insignificant number of Some consensus has been of the belief that Nigerian
women were elected into various posts in past three politics is based on high political virility – those who have
general elections held in the country between 1999 and all it takes to compete in the turbulent environment; those
2007. The result of the survey shows that no woman was who possess the wherewithal to take it by force when
elected as governor of any state in the federation. We force is required; those that can march violence with
only had few women as members of Houses of Assembly violence. This consensus belief that men possess the
across the country and as members of the upper house superiority strength, competitiveness, are self reliant and
(Senate) and lower house (House of Representative) of are prepared to tussle in political endeavour, whereas
the National Assembly. women are considered too passive to engage in politics
This survey shows a poor representation of women in and governance. This consensus is also constructed by
the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections. In 2003 in States like societal norms and values, which through socialization
Adamawa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, has defined different gender roles according to biological
Kebbi, Nasarawa, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, no differences. Women’s perception of politics as a dirty
woman was elected as member of the State House of game and continued fright at the thought of violence has
Assembly. In states where women were elected as further alienated them from mainstream politics.
members of House of Assembly, they were very few. In Nigeria there seems to be no critical understanding
According to the figures collated from the database of of the difference between “a visible agenda for women
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and an impacting agenda for women.” (Nkoyo, 2002:29).
records shows that a total 7160 candidates (men and While severally, emphasis is laid on women’s numerical
women) contested in the April elections. Of this number, strength, translating such into the attainment of power
only 628 women participated. Out of the 25 candidates has been difficult as women are perceived as “supporters
that participated for the office of the President, only 1 is a club, team of cheerers and clappers” in contrast to their
woman while 5 women contested for the office of the Vice male counterparts. Women politicians seek offices on the
President. premise of being different; most believe they must do
From the table we see that there are 9 female senators what men are doing to succeed. And the meekness of
out of 109 Senators and 25 women in the House of women is not to their advantage in political tussle.
Representatives of 360 members. There are 54 female
members of the State Assemblies. This is two percent
improvement of the 2003 general elections. Lack of economic incentives (Financial backing)

Women’s historical experience of discrimination puts

FACTORS RESPOSIBLE FOR LOW PARTICIPATION them at a disadvantage economically. Political cam-
OF WOMEN IN NIGERIAN POLITICS paigns are expensive and require solid financial backing
for success. Over the years, sexual division of labour and
Gender roles – Patriarchy job opportunities offered on sex basis has given men
productive gender roles, enabling them to possess more
The family is the main institution of patriarchy (Kate Millet, purchasing power over their female counterparts. As an
 Agbalajobi 079

implication, the Nigerian labour market has about 75% of The Convention “reflects the depth of the exclusion and
labour being supplied by men. This economic disparity restriction practiced against women solely on the basis of
favour men to the disadvantage of women. Only few their sex by calling for equal rights for women, regardless
women that are affluent possess the economic power to of their marital status in all fields – political, economic,
bankroll political campaigns. social, cultural and civil. It calls for national legislations to
Societal value assumes that political activities are mas- ban discrimination, recommends temporary special mea-
culine and this makes it worse as financiers and sponsors sures to speed equality in fact between men and women”
of politicians prefer male candidates over female ones, (UNESCO, 1999:6). The Convention provides that:
since they believe they stand a better chance. Most
success achieved by women in politics has been through Adoption by States Parties of temporary special
women movements that sponsor women political measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality
aspirations financially and otherwise. Women depen- between men and women shall not be considered
dence on men financially made manifest through wife’s discrimination as defined in the present Convention,
dependence on their husbands in families reveals the but shall in no way entail as a consequence the
extent of financial incapacitation of women in Nigerian maintenance of unequal or separate standards;
politics. As a result, women political aspirations have these measures shall be discontinued when the
been grossly hampered by lack of financial bedrock to objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment
subsist their endeavor. have been achieved. - Article IV, CEDAW.

The 1999 Constitution made provided somewhat similar

Discriminatory customs and laws affirmative action to supplement non-discrimination of
contending parties. The Constitution provides that:
The customary practices of many contemporary societies
are biased by subjugating women to men and “the composition of the government of the federation
undermining their self-esteem. The overall impact of or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs
gender bias, cultural norms and practices has entrenched shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect
a feeling of inferiority in women and place them at a the federal character of Nigeria and the need to
disadvantage vis-à-vis their male counterpart in the promote national unity, and also command loyalty,
socio-political scene even in urban centers. thereby ensuring that there shall be no predo-
These socially constructed norms and stereotype roles minance of persons from a few states or from a few
make women overplay their ‘feminity’ by accepting that ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government
they are ‘weaker sexes’, overemphasizing the dainty or any of its agencies.”
nature of their sex and regarding exceptional achieve-
ment as masculine. For example, most customs often It is not the use of Affirmative Action that seems to be the
prefer sending the male child to school over the female, who problem but the practical effects and its linkage to
is expected to nurture siblings and to be married off. This fundamental ideas of fairness and justice. By the same
marginally increases the illiterate women and stiffens token there can hardly be a stronger argument for gender
their competition with their male counterparts in politics. based affirmative action than equal representation in a
country where women who constitute about half of the
Lack of affirmative action quota population have been continuously sidelined in public life
to the extent that they have never held more than 15% of
Affirmative Action is usually a measure intended to both appointive and elective offices (See Table 1 for
supplement non-discrimination; it is a broad term statistics of elected positions).
encompassing a host of policies that seek to support However, the Constitution was not explicit in ensuring
weak groups in society. They include policies where equal representation on sexual bases. Unlike the
deliberate action is used to stop discrimination. A policy constitutions of some African countries, notably South
process of this kind allows for rules that have the Africa and Uganda, the Constitution of the Federal
objective of enhancing equal opportunity for individuals Republic of Nigeria takes no cognizance of the
and the improvement, in the situation of marginalized disadvantaged position of women and has no provision
groups. In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly for gender equality. Apart from the general reference to
adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms nondiscrimination on the basis of sex etc, there is nothing
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This con- in the constitution that is aimed at redressing the
vention has variously been described as the “Bible of disparities that exist along gender lines in Nigeria. On the
women empowerment” and “Women’s International Bill of other hand, the Federal Character Principle, which is
Rights.” Since its adoption it has become a reference meant to ensure equitable representation of states and
point for the women’s movement in the demand for ethnic groups in national appointments, actually places
gender equality. women at additional disadvantage by implying that they
080 Afri. J. Pol. Sci. Int. Relat.

Table 1. Comparism of women representation in 2003 and 2007 general elections.

No. of available No. of women elected and No. of women elected and
SN Position
seats % total in 2003 % total in 2007
1. Presidency 1 0 0
2. Senate 109 3 (2.27) 9(8.26)
3. House of Representatives 360 21 (5.83) 25(6.98)
4. Governorship 36 0 0
5. State House of Assembly 990 38(3.84) 54(5.45)
Source: Gender Audit and IPU PARLINE database (2003 and 2008).

can only represent their states of origin. Where culture dismantling the cultural, traditional and social norms,
does not permit a woman to represent her place of birth, which disvalue, disempower and dispossess women with
she loses a golden opportunity. There have been many its central objectives tied to the needs of women to
cases where a woman’s state of origin disallows her opportunities, facilities, skill acquisition and position of
appointment and the husband’s state also refuses to authority, especially within the political sphere. This
endorse her. In many of these instances the government recent development accords women the opportunity to
plays safe by appointing a man instead. And this has develop their individual talent and contribute more
continued to consolidate women’s under-representation meaningfully to societal development, helping subvert
in national politics. cultural as well as the societal norms which have been of
disadvantage to the women folk.
Forum of Nigerian Women in Politics (FONWIP) is an
Other factors example, whose central objective is to promote women
i. Inadequate knowledge of written and unwritten rules empowerment and eradication of all forms of violence
protecting women’s political rights. and discrimination against women. It supports women in
ii. Religious Doctrine: Some religious doctrines militate decision making in both public and private sector. The
against the active participation of women in politics and group organizes seminars on empowerment and inequa-
position of authority. As Millet puts it: “patriarchy has God lity among other things. It is influential in its agenda; it
on its side” that is, Christianity portrays Eve as an after requested that government should yield to 30% female
thought produced from Adam’s spare rib. Furthermore, it representation in government appointments; made
is held that the origin of gender discrimination began from several attempts to increase official awareness on gender
their sins. Islamic doctrines strictly bar women from some issues in public policies and conduct of workshops for
political endeavour – public speaking etc. – that can women who aspire to run for public offices.
facilitate their political ambitions.
Activities of UN and other International Organizations
In recent times, however, there have been a number of
movements to the commitment, both to the personal and The principles, policies and actions towards ending gen-
social change of women in their status in public life. der inequality in Nigerian politics have been advanced
Through series of women enlightenment, emancipation and undertaken with the influence of international
and conscious raising of groups on women movement, organizations by both government and non-governmental
women subordination in politics have been reduced to an organizations. On its part, the United Nations (UN) has
extent. Women through several of these platforms have fostered several Declarations and Conventions aimed at
played influential roles and this has further spurred more ending all forms of political discrimination among women.
women in to politics. Among such documents that prohibit women
discrimination are:
FACTORS LEADING TO THE GROWTH OF WOMEN
PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS i. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
ii. The International Convention on Civil and Political
Women Empowerment Programs Rights (ICCPR).
iii. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Sand Brook and Halfari defined women empowerment as Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
a multi-dimensional process involving the transformation
of the economical, political, social, psychological and Following conferences in Copenhagen, Nairobi, Vienna,
legal circumstances of the powerless with its aim of Cairo and Beijing, women participation on development
 Agbalajobi 081

has become a recurrent issue as women access to Florence Ita Giwa representing Cross-River State, South
decision making and full participation in public affairs is Senatorial District; Mrs. Stella Omu from Delta State and
now recognized as a fundamental condition for demo- Hajia Khairat Abdul-Rasaq representing the FCT. Twelve
cracy and for attaining sustainable development, as true (12) women in the House of Representatives; Barrister
democracy is characterized by full and equitable Iquo Minimah, Mrs. Patience Ogodo, Lola Abiola Edewor,
participation of women in both formulation and imple- Patience O. Etteh, Dorcas Odurinrin, J.F. Adeyemi, Binta
mentation of decisions in all spheres of public life. And no Garba Kosi, Gbenni Saraki, Florence Aya, Linda Ikpeazu,
state can claim democracy if half of its population are Temi Harrinnan and Mercy Almona Isei. In the Executive
excluded from decision making processes. Councils, Former President Obansanjo also appointed a
The UN also has programs and agencies dedicated in number of women in the Federal Executive Council.
uplifting the status of women in political affairs, e.g. the In the present administration eight (8) women occupy
th
4 Conference of Women held in Beijing, China in 1995, strategic ministerial posts, they are – Prof. Dora Akunyili
with the theme “Equality Development and Peace the (Min. for Information), Mrs. Felicia Njeze (Min. of
Contriving Strategies” towards active liberation and State), Mrs. Dlazani Madueke (Defence), Mrs. Agata
empowerment of women with its overall aim at annulling Jerry (Transport), Mrs. Aishatu Dikku (Min. of State), Mrs.
those practices and values that discriminate against Grace Ekpiwhre (Science and Technology), Fatima
women; taking steps to increase the number of women Ibrahim (Min. of State of Energy and Power) and Mrs.
representation in legislative bodies around the world; the Bingudu (Min. of women Affairs). From the foregoing it is
improvement of women’s social, economic and political evident that there has been an increase in the number of
status, which is essential for the achievement of both a positions manned by women in Nigerian political affairs,
transparent and accountable government; ensuring and afar cry from what persisted in the 1950s. This has been
encouraging the women towards realizing their abilities made possible due to the quota allocation system as
and utmost importance in the political and social develop- approved by the UN to be implemented in global politics.
ment such that they will be significantly represented in It can therefore be seen that the practice of the quota
the decision making bodies in every organization; poli- system assists in reducing the low-level of women parti-
tically educating and empowering women to take active cipation in politics, a veritable solution to male dominated
part in the political process as party members, leaders, patriarchal society. It also stereotypes the presence of
voter and candidates. women, which changes the face of decision making, pro-
viding opportunities for substantive input. This technique
contributes to no small measure in improving female
Quotas and proportional representation intention to participate in Nigerian politics despite the
prevailing political structure and societal norms, as “a
These are generally seen as a positive action of laws woman’s experience is needed and necessary in political
allocating quotas for women to assist in the promotion for life and policy making in order to represent the entire
gender balance in public life. Quotas are considered as a society” (Phillips, 1995). “Quotas do not discriminate but
legitimate means of securing this end. In many countries compensate women for actual barriers that prevent
the exclusion of women in politics is as a result of many women from pursuing a political carrier” (Bunagan et al.,
reasons – financial, cultural, traditional and political. 2000).
Asserting this fact and the reasons that have made it so Other amiable factors which increase women’s
implies that quotas should not be seen as discrimination intentions to politics include:
towards men and cannot be branded unconstitutional as
most quotas are formulated under neutral basis. The Law i. Support network and prospective role models: Through
(Nigerian) provides for a maximum of 60% and a the identification of aspirants and pairing them with
minimum of 30% representation for either sex, which was established women politicians, playing mentoring a role
implemented as a result of the Beijing Conference. The and providing capacity building training to young or
Conference agreed that 30% of public seat and positions aspiring female politicians.
should be reserved for women. Nigeria records an ii. Building a Coalition of NGOs and Grassroots women
increase of 78% progress in women’s election into public associations that coordinates the support and advocacy
offices spanning from 1999 - 2007. for women aspirants.
th
In the 4 Republic which started on May 29, 1999 the iii. Awareness of their political and legal rights and to
Nigerian political terrain had witnessed an increase in the claim them.
number of women political appointees as few women iv. An enabling environment that allows for women to
have emerged as Chairpersons of Local Government engage in decision making process in a sustainable and
Councils. Lagos State produced a female Deputy Gover- effective way free from political harassments and
nor in the person of Senator Bucknor Akerele. In the violence.
Senate, there were three (3) women namely Chief (Mrs.) v. Establishment of legal funds to enable women politicians
082 Afri. J. Pol. Sci. Int. Relat.

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holders successfully. They use the platform of women
movement as a veritable platform to seize political power
and consolidate the power on this same platform. Be as it
may, there is an increase in women participation on these
bases and women movements are promising in achieving
gender equality and equity.