Coalition for the Inclusion of Women in Governance asks Buhari to give 50% of all appointments to women

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been challenged by the Coalition for the Inclusion of Women in Governance (CIWG) to make sure that at least 50% of all his appointees during his second term in office are female.

On May 29, President Buhari will be sworn-in for a second four year term and one of his first tasks will be to form his cabinet and then start making appointments into other positions. Nigeria currently lags behind many African countries like South Africa, Rwanda and Burundi when it comes to gender equality as for instance, none of the country's 36 governors are female.

Nigeria has never elected a female state governor, or had a woman as her president, vice president or senate president. Tasking President Buhari to address the situation, CIWG urged him to guarantee women a 50% share in all appointive positions at both federal and state levels in the incoming administration.

CIWG spokesperson Ebere Ifendu, said the 2019 general election ended on a very disappointing note with an abysmally low number of elected female legislators in the National Assembly. She lamented the fact that although there is parity between male and female in Nigeria’s estimated population of 200m, most of the positions critical to national development are occupied by the males.

She added: “Our prayer is that a higher number of women should be appointed as ministers, board chairmen and heads of agencies and parastatals irrespective of the zoning formula. We demand same at the state level as for Nigeria to be compliant with the United Nations’ requirements and its own gender policy, we are demanding a 50% affirmative action to reflect in appointments.”

Ms Ifendu urged President Buhari and the leadership to ensure that they reciprocate the support they got from women by giving them their due share of appointments. She added that their demand for more inclusivity in governance is based on merit and the contributions they have been making in the political and economic development of the country.

One of the participants at the CIWG seminar likened Nigeria to a giant that has refused to wake up to its responsibility and join other countries in giving women their pride of place. Other speakers at the event asked the first lady, Aisha Buhari and the wife of the vice president, Dolapo Osibanjo, to prevail on their husbands to work towards the realisation of 50% women participation in the next administration.