Nigerian women have been urged to demand greater inclusion in political leadership rather than seek affirmative action.
This was the view of one of the discussants at a one-day public lecture to mark the 2021 Law week organized by the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Cross River State, south-south Nigeria on the theme “Zoning Women into Leadership Positions in Nigeria: Between the Convenience of Affirmative Action and Demand for Competence.”
Battling Male Dominance
The discussant, a former Special Adviser to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa stated that she does not believe in affirmative action since women have struggled over the years to be recognized in the political affairs of the country.
She opined that women, who have dared to aspire to leadership positions engaged in what she described as “A battle of wits by the men,” noting “The amount of male testosterone-infused into all institutions in Nigeria suggests it is wrong for women to aspire to leadership.”
According to the former lawmaker, some women, who have the competence to assume sensitive governance positions were relegated to the background due to the domineering attitude of men.
On the issue of zoning, Ita-Giwa said that it was a compensatory mechanism to exclude women from leadership in Nigeria.
“Men have over time perverted some aspects of the African culture that confers special status on women as a weapon of exclusion in leadership. At all levels, there are leadership opportunities, but we have been at an appalling disadvantage in all of these levels.
“If we must be brutally frank on the competence question, recent history suggests that the few women, who have been given sensitive and strategic assignments have excelled. For instance, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, late Dr. Dora Akunyili performed very well in governance,” said Ita-Giwa.
She challenged women to demand greater inclusion in leadership using the zoning route for political appointments, urging “Women should ‘steel’ themselves for the battle; mobilize necessary funds and get ready to rumble.”
Capacity and Competence
Another discussant, the Cross River State Commissioner for Health, Dr Betta Edu in her opinion disagreed with Ita-Giwa’s submission that women must aspire to leadership positions by engaging with the men.
Edu opined that capacity and competence would naturally place women in the advantage for leadership positions and encouraged women to set priorities and work towards achieving them.
The Commissioner stated, “Once you proffer solutions to societal problems you will naturally lead. I do not believe women are on a battlefield with men. If you show capacity you will lead.”
In his own opinion, the senator representing the Northern Senatorial District of Cross River State, Dr. Stephen Odey said that zoning women into leadership positions were not out of place.
Odey noted that some women have excelled above the men in leadership positions since they are “Better organizers and less financially greedy.”
The senator, who was represented by the Head of Department of Sociology, Dr, Mike Ushie solicited support to enable women to ascend to higher positions of authority because they have demonstrated adequate capacity.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Dr Joe Edet said that women deserved equal representation in all facets of the society, while the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Cyril Ndifon spoke on the imperatives of the public lecture for the enthronement of academic excellence.
PIAK
