No Retreat No Surrender: Women Can No longer Be Taken for A Ride- Women Group Tells NASS
Maryam Aminu
Some Nigerian Women, under the name “Women Manifesto’’, on Wednesday in a press conference at the women Development Centre Abuja said that they would continue to occupy the National Assembly (NASS ) until the 5 gender bills are met.
The Co-Convener of the group, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi , made this position known on behalf of the women in a statement in Abuja on Wednesdayday.
According to Abiola, Nigeria has a woeful women representation in political and elective positions.
“In some states we don’t have a single woman as a commissioner”
She decried the situation at the National Assembly, comprising the Senate with 109 members and the House of Representatives with 360 members, totaling 469 members of parliament, with 29 women amounting to just 6 per cent of the total number.
Abiola urged Nigerians especially it’s women not to give up hope as the group will continue to push to ensure that NASS act responsibly
She further asked all citizens willing to see positive changes to prepare and continue to stand against every form of injustice and contribute to the emergence of laws that will address the fundamental issues affecting all citizens.
Abiola, however, demanded on behalf of women, urgent re-convening of members of the parliament, reconsideration and immediate passage of the five women/gender-related bills.
She listed the Bills as numbers 35, 36, 37, 38, and 68.2, adding that the passing of the Gender and Equal Opportunities (GEOB) Bill, currently before the Senate, will be a good one for the women.
Other demands are: resuscitation and the passage of the Bill on Support for Women Participation in elective and appointive positions Bill 2020 before the House of Representatives.
Abiola, on behalf of the women, also demanded for immediate domestication of the African Charters Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, which Nigeria ratified in 2004.
Also, immediate domestication of the UN Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Nigeria ratified in 1985.
She said that the women have resolved to continue with their struggle aimed at pushing back on the ‘hate attitude’ of the NASS, as well as the pattern for which women had been neglected and disregarded for the concerns of women
