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Women in Nigeria have been called to take up active roles in the political sphere, especially with the 2019 electoral polls. One of such people to make this call is the Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

A call to participate

Obasanjo stated this during the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) 14th Annual Lecture on Wednesday, April 4, in Lagos. In his lecture, titled Women, Politics and Nation building:

“The 2019 will serve as a litmus test for women participation in politics… Women must stand up to be counted. It is an insult that resourceful, intelligent, and morally upright women are side-lined into the ghettos of power to perform in almost insignificant positions.”

This is coming after the Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Ketil Karlsen‘s mandate to the women at a seminar held to discuss Women’s Participation in Nigeria’s Political Process held in Abuja on March 23; an avenue that discussed women political education and participation.

Daunting Statistics

According to statistics provided by the current chairperson of WIMBIZ executive council, Olubunmi Aboderin-Talabi:

“No woman has ever attained the position of President or Vice-President in Nigeria. There is currently no female governor in Nigeria. Presently, we have just five female deputy governors. We have eight female senators out of 109 and 19 female members of the House of Representatives out of 360 members.”

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This article was first published on 5th April 2018
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adepeju

Adepeju Adenuga is a writer (considering where you are reading this, makes perfect sense). She holds a Masters Degree in Literature in English from the University of Lagos.