President Muhammadu Buhari received bashing while Governor Nyesom Wike got high five on how each leader treated women so far. Though Wike is yet to name his cabinet, the Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) said reserving all deputy local council chairmanship positions in Rivers State for women was a landmark worthy of celebration.
The chairperson of CEHRD in Rivers State, Constance Meju, a chief, said in her address at a forum that Buhari appointed only seven women as ministers out of the 42 recently sworn in. She said this “signifies a continued denial to women, of the right to participate and contribute appropriately, to nation-building.”
For Rivers, she said: “We must applaud the continued effort of the Rivers State Governor, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike for including women in his administration which has produced women as caretaker chairpersons, deputy chairpersons, counselors and state and National Assembly members in addition to our Deputy Governor. We only ask that he continues to increase the presence of women in critical positions as a beacon for others to follow and that the local government chairpersons duly include their deputies in the affairs of government. We’ve been told some are merely there as symbolic representatives and that is not good.”
She went on; “The Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development recognises this cry of marginalisation and the negative consequences, hence some 10 months ago, it embarked on an enlightenment campaign. The outcome is the formation of the body ‘Women in Governance Network’ which we are inaugurating today.”
Meju further said: “I want to, on behalf of CEHRD, express our deep appreciation to the Netherlands Embassy for making this process possible; our Honourable local government chairmen and deputy chairpersons, distinguished guests, media and partners, we thank you all.”
She traced the fate of women over the decades thus: “The Second Republic (1979 -1983) saw a little more participation of women in politics but the advent of military rule truncated what should have been a gradual expansion of the female circle in political leadership which has today degenerated to a less than three percent participation in governance at a time a country like South Africa is celebrating a 50/50 representation and Rwanda and other sister countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, over 35 percent, the representation rate stipulated by the United Nation and accented to by Nigeria and many other nations.”
Ignatius Chukwu
