Affirmative: Why the girl child can now believe

by Alexander O. Onukwue

At least one in every three Ministers appointed by the President, and Commissioners chosen in the 36 states of Nigeria, will henceforth mandatorily be a woman.

That is the result of one of the bills passed today by the Senate as part of the fourth review of the Constitution. Beside the thirty-five persons who seemed to have a problem with that, the Senate voted in the affirmative to make the role of women in Governance assured across the country.

By a rough estimate, it implies that at least 13 Ministers and more than 150 Commissioners in Nigeria will be women, going forward. At the Federal level, that should amount to a 100% increase in the number of women on the Federal Executive Council when put into action.

The value of this cannot be underestimated, as much it should also not be regarded as a favour now being done to the women. With a burgeoning population, Nigeria has led from the bottom in the global rankings of countries who have made their Governments open to women. The initiation of affirmative action into the Constitution comes more than two decades after the Beijing Conference, so we have not exactly come to the party early.

That said, the bar has certainly been raised. Nigerian women, home and abroad, who are doing excellent work in their fields of expertise can now be given the opportunity to be more involved in rendering their services to their fatherland.

It can only be hoped that the provision would not become an opportunity for nepotism and abuse, at the Federal but especially at the State levels. As Ayisha Osori observed in her book ‘Love Does Not Win Elections’, it so often happens that women are used by men as “placeholders”. The women who should get into positions of public office should absolutely be on merit, and not to merely fill the seats in the expanded nave.

With credibility and competence as standing criteria, there should be more ‘Madam due Process’ characters, as against the Granges and Yacht moguls.

Not only will the best of Nigeria’s women stand up and be counted, but the next generation will have true role models to look up to.

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