The Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) has warned that protests may rock various legislative quarters as women press home their demands for a better deal in the country, following the National Assembly’s rejection of key bills intended to promote gender inclusiveness.
The warning came via a press statement signed by NFF Communications Officer, Angela Nkwo, which condemned every lawmaker who voted against the pro-women bills last Tuesday, describing the legislators as the “shame of the nation”.
“The NFF, with membership spread across the 774 local governments of Nigeria, demands a reconsideration of all gender bills as it will lead to an improved economy, healthcare, and governance. We declare total support for protests alongside other sisters to occupy all legislative quarters across the nation”.
The NFF expressed outrage that while the rest of the world is progressively advancing the cause of inclusion and gender balance in government, Nigerian lawmakers elected to protect collective rights were nothing but ethnic and religious bigots.
The statement reads: “It is appalling that on the first day of International Women’s Month, the National Assembly comprised of about 96 percent males voted against female inclusion in political spaces, an act that is nothing short of selfishness, bigotry, ignorance, and self-centeredness!
“We make bold to say that every lawmaker who voted against women has failed to reflect the family values inculcated into them and is a poor representation of the huge sacrifices their mothers made to raise them, there is nothing distinguished about their show of shame”.
Further, the group demanded that every lawmaker who voted against the gender bills should not be voted to return to the National Assembly for another term of office.
“We call on all Nigerian women and people of good conscience to ensure that the lawmakers who voted against the bills as presently constituted are not returned to the National Assembly”, it said.
The group also called for the elimination of all forms of bias against women in the constitution.
According to it, Nigerian women across the world were aggrieved that despite repeated promises of inclusion and several resolutions adopted by the Nigerian government on gender-related matters, the 9th National Assembly voted against specific seats for women, 35 percent appointive positions for women, 35 percent affirmative action in party administration and leadership, indigene-ship rights after five years of marriage for non-Nigerian-born women, and several others.
The group also stated that: “The NFF wishes to state unequivocally that the action of those members of the 9th National Assembly has reinforced the current gender imbalance across the legislative arms of government and under-representation of women in political spaces, and we refuse to accept this anomaly.
“These lawmakers, by their action, have undermined the importance and relevance of women’s contribution to the governance of Nigeria and the critical roles we women play to ensure peaceful coexistence across the country despite our different peculiarities of language and customs”.
The NFF expressed worries that Nigerian women and girls were weighed down by decades of discrimination, cultural and religious biases, while a country like Rwanda enjoys a robust economy because it has over 60 percent female parliamentary representation.
