The Junction – Past versus Present
Nigeria undergoes a constitutional amendment or alteration of the 1999 constitution that has governed the affairs of the Nation for decades. The Constitutional review seeks to review, amend and alter some components and sections of existing legislation to better improve the quality of all citizens. As important as all the alterations are, the bill to add more or create additional seats in the National Assembly only for women- Reserved/Special Seats Bill- takes over the limelight.
I have spoken, written and keep lending my voice on the matter of inclusive leadership centering on young women and people with disabilities as core members of the youth population in Nigeria. The advocacy of the reserved seats bill goes beyond the voting of the NASS to ensure that the stakeholders of this policy who are also the beneficiaries of the legislation, are well represented, informed and equipped to imbibe this bill as should. The reserved seats bill seeks to add additional seats to the House of Representatives, Senate and State Houses of Assembly. These seats will be occupied through election and the women who occupy this seats will increase the number visibility of women in positions of parliamentary leadership.
Rear-View
Nigeria has had a similar run of show at the 9th Assembly with Hon. Onyejeocha leading this mandate along side Civil Society and NGOs on the Gender Bills. Unfortunately, none of the bills, including the reserved seats bill, was voted for at the House of Representatives. This opportunity has come full circle, sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu and 13 other co-sponsors, Hon. Tolani Shagaya, Hon. Oriyomi A Onanuga, Hon. Kafilat Ogbara, Hon. Joshua Audu Gana, Hon. Chinwe Clara Nnabuife, Hon. Khadija Bukar Ibrahim, Hon. Jafaru Gambo Leko ,Hon. M. D. Hassan, Hon. Blessing Onuh, Hon. Kama Nkemkanma, Hon. Amobi Godwin Ogah, Hon. Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi and Hon. Francis Waive. This bill is supported by the verbally and visibly by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass.
My team – HEIR Women Hub- and I, recently held a virtual town-hall to discuss the special seats bill with the goal to inform and inspire young women to potentially participate in the future of parliamentary democracy, to consider leadership and decision making opportunities and to make a case to shift the norm and mindsets about the representation of young women in leadership as well as co-create a future where girls get involved in leadership. While influencing the Reserved Seats Bill, we considered who the Beneficiaries of this bill are, what do they see as an inclusive legislative approach that takes accountability even when women occupy such positions.
The Blind Spots
Critics have voiced that the reserved seats bill is discriminatory, is not well thought out based on who gets the election block as the constituents in each State are more than one, the cost of electioneering, the violent structure of elections in itself, deep rooted corruption that usually influences nepotism and elitism and the “sponsoring” of bodies for a position as tokenism. The implementation of bills and policies has always been the subject of controversy and debate as Nigeria is lauded to not be without laws and policies.
The vibrations from the just concluded House of Representatives retreat in Lagos where the members considered the reports on all the bills considered for amendment, seem promising. However actual votes determine the outcome of all the advocacy efforts. Advocates still continue to engage legislators while the date for the voting is in view. What is still missing in my opinion is the young people- young women in particular.
The Missing Link – Young Women
51% of females in the population statistics of women are under the age of 20 years according to a report. Young people (aged 10-24) make up 31.7% of the total population, with females being a substantial part of this group. In 2024, the female population aged 15-19 was 11.12% of the total female population.
Social expectations and the politics of unpaid care work has largely eroded the ability for girls and young women to think or dream about leading. Girls and boys are taught and shown different sides of leadership with boys giving capacity to become leaders at the frontlines while many girls are raised to accept and be comfortable with the back end of invincible leading. The social structure of a construct such as gender, esentialises and reinforces roles for boys and girls which gets transformed into their mindsets and behaviours as growing young women and men. These mindsets becomes a foundation for how leadership is defined for women and men. While we grapple with abysmal leadership by women across sectors in our country, young women make up 58% of the population in Nigeria and are often sidelined when discussions of leadership emanates. Young women have been pre-occupied from when they were girls to domesticity and to not think of themselves as leaders. This is a good time to re-imagine futures that center young women by dismantling the inter-generational divide and deliberately raising girls as leaders and sponsoring young women to lead.
A Case for the Marginalised
Over 30 million people in Nigeria are persons with disabilities. Children with disabilities mark up the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Young women with disabilities are more often discriminated against and excluded in society. I find many events that I attend, still have to push past the tokenism of representation when it comes to PWDs and actively mainstream all women – including women with disabilities- into the conversation of women in leadership. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Tajudeen Abass has sponsored a bill to increase the number of women with disabilities in the NASS. Physically Challenged Persons’ Reserved Seats Bill (Sixth Alteration, 2024)- HB1931 is looking to add 6 seats in HoR, 6 seats in Senate and 111 seats in State Houses of Assemblies.
I applaud this initiative by the Hon. Speaker, Tajudeen Abass however I am concerned that the current advocacy drive has not championed this bill for PWDs as loudly as it has done for the HB1349 – Reserved Seats. Having said this, I am glad to also note that the discussion with PWD organisations are well under way. All women representing is what the gaol should be, with no one left behind.
Co- creating leadership futures for young women
While hosting a knowledge sharing session to unpack the RSB and increase understanding about the importance of inclusive leadership, the concerns raised are that the leadership by women must be for women’s issues and National Security. Participants share that women must not become “figure heads” pandering to the highest bidder but must internalise the realities of women and be emboldened to make progressive change for the Nation. Young women interested in shifting the trajectory of a society must begin to take responsibility to deepen their knowledge base and expand their capacity for governance.
I believe that this can be done. I believe that the re-imaginative capacity inside us can catapult a generation of young women who will lead that direction of possibility. I believe that everyone benefits from a capable leader and I believe that a young woman can become one!
Añuli Aniebo
References
PLAC – Policy and Legal Advocacy Center
UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund Country programme document for Nigeria 2023