Modupe Adetiba, the president of Nigeria Female Student Association of Nigeria (NFSAN) was our second guest during the 16 days of activism live sessions hosted by HEIR Women Hub. The topic for discussion was; Sexism and Politics: Its effect on Political Representation of women in Nigeria.
Miss Adetiba is a strong youth activist who continuously fights for the rights of youths especially young women in Nigeria. One striking part about our discussion with her was the fact that she was able to make references from her personal experiences over the past few years. She stated that in as much as sexism is part of the reasons we record low representation of women in politics, there is a greater issue which is; women do not support women as much as they should do. She mentioned that a lot of women choose to dwell on sentiments and other minor issues and this has deterred us from achieving much.
From the just concluded continuous voter registration in Nigeria, INEC recorded more female registered voters than men but when it comes to political representation at the federal, state, and local government level, the figures are very poor.
The session was concluded when Modupe stated the following remedy that can help succor the poor political representation of women in Nigeria and they are;
1. Strategic positioning: women need to position themselves in strategic places to be able to achieve much.
2. Mentorship: this should be continuous and a not one-stop process. There are a lot of female mentors who are not in active politics but know the processes involved. She said if we can have godfathers, why can’t we have godmothers?
3. Negotiation skills: most women do not know how to negotiate. Unlike the men in politics, if they let go of one thing, they ensure to get another thing in exchange. She urged women to learn how to negotiate in politics.
4. Preparedness: women should develop themselves and be prepared at all times so that when an opportunity comes for representation, they won’t be caught unawares.
There is a lot to take back home from this discussion and we are certain of more progress in the future. You can find the full video on our Instagram page @heirwoman
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