*Affirmative action is a fundamental right of women – Speaker Abbas*
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, has reassured Nigerian women of the 10th Assembly’s resolve to push through gender-related legislation aimed at granting them more participatory space in politics.
The Speaker who hosted a delegation of women in politics in his office on Tuesday stated that having more women coming to the parliament is a matter of right and not a privilege.
The visit to the Speaker, which was attended by the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee of the House, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, and other legislators, was a follow-up to the International Legislative Dialogue on Women and the Constitution Amendment Process in Nigeria held on Monday in Abuja.
The Speaker expressed sadness at a situation where women would have to resort to pleading for something that should ordinary be a matter of right.
“I feel sad we are convening this meeting here and that we’re hearing pleas from our mothers for what is rightly theirs. If I had known that this was the purpose for this meeting, I would have told you to go home and sleep and even snore, that this House will deliver on its promises to you. ”
Speaker Abbas reassured the women that the 10th National Assembly would invest in making history by passing all gender-related bills seeking to alter the constitution.
“This time around, history will be made and that this 10th House and the 10th Senate will make it happen. I, as the Speaker, am very confident that all of us, the 360 members, are on board with this,” he said.
Speaker Abbas further expressed desire to see a time in the future where women will not only be fully represented in the legislature but also in the executive arm.
“I’m also looking forward to a time when women will not just have space in the parliament, but also in the executive, where you will have a president and the vice president will be a woman, and where you will have a governor with a woman as the deputy.
“I’m confident that this is doable, and if we can’t achieve it with the ongoing efforts, then it will be a work in progress. But for what we are here for right now, it’s a done deal as far as the House is concerned.”
Earlier, the leader of the women delegation, who is also the National Women Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs. Amina Darasimi Bryhm, expressed delight at the level of commitment and support the Speaker has shown in the cause of women in Nigeria.
“We are delighted to be here, and also pleased to see that you came with your wife out to support us yesterday at the dialogue.
“Like I said yesterday, our society is patriarchal, and, therefore, we need this support, and we’re lucky and happy to have a Speaker who’s a ‘he-for-she’.
She assured the Speaker and other leaders of the National Assembly who are invested in the struggle that women will redouble their effort to ensure that the objective is realized,” she said.
Also commending Speaker Abbas for his steadfastness in championing the course of women in Nigeria through legislative instrument, a member of the South African Parliament Dudu Zuma-Sambudla described women as the peaceful segment of every society.
Civil society representatives also commended the Speaker for his support, saying that women are beautifiers of spaces, and if given more spaces to participate in politics, they will make it more beautiful.
A former senator, who had served as a member of the House, Sen. Binta Masi Garba expressed appreciation to the Speaker office for championing the current movement of bringing women out to voice their case and make their voices heard.
She noted that while women who represent 49.4% of the nation’s population are playing favourably in professional fields and careers, they are shot out in politics.
She said women are not asking for equal representation with the men in parliament but a fraction of available seats.
Signed:
*Musa Abdullahi Krishi*
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
