Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assemblies, Abubakar Suleiman; Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Taiwo Oluomo; and their Lagos counterpart, Mudashiru Obasa, have decried poor patronage of the media amongst female legislators in the country.
He advised the parliamentarians to cultivate the culture of employing professional media aides.
The trio said that “absence in the spotlight, has, contributed heavily to the attitude of the populace towards female political candidates and consequently affected their eventual success during elections”.
Media reports available online have it that they spoke Friday in Lagos at a one-day sensitisation workshop organised by the UN Women and the government of Canada in partnership with the Women Advocates Research & Documentation Centre for elected female federal and state legislators in the country.
“Women, you need to be more visible. Do not allow the men to dominate the media space. When you do something, let it be out there. Do not shy away from the media,” Oluomo, on his part, said, while Suleiman commended the efforts of all female candidates who, against all odds, won in the 2023 general elections.
Speaking on the ‘Role of Parliamentarians in Ensuring Gender and Social Inclusion’, the Keynote Speaker, Hon.Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, member, House of Representatives and former Chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, said parliamentarians must sponsor laws that protect women’s rights and promote their participation in all aspects of society.
They must, she added, also champion legislations that address gender-based violence and equal opportunities in education, as well as safeguard the reproductive rights.
“As parliamentarians, we have the power to drive gender and social inclusion through our oversight functions. We must hold government agencies accountable. You have public hearings and you invite agencies in your states to the house; but how many of you have ever asked them how many women are directors in their agencies or what they are doing about increasing the number of female directors?” she interrogated.
Also speaking at the workshop which featured seasoned facilitators including Prof.Olabisi Aina, Executive Director, Centre for Gender and Development Studies, Ekiti State University; and veteran broadcaster, Stella Din-Jacob, who reeled out media tips to the parliamentarians, Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative for Nigeria and ECOWAS, said Nigeria currently trailed behind her peers due to poor representation of its female population.
She said: “Women constitute 50% of Nigeria’s population and need to be equally represented at all levels given their numerical strength. Nigeria cannot overcome gender-based discrimination and inequality if women’s political voice remains marginalised. This must be supported by law and implemented at federal and state levels.”
Comments
0 comment