The former minister of women affairs and the Taraba state governorship candidate of the United Democratic Party (UDP) senator Aisha Alhassan has called on Nigerian women to rally support for all female candidates for various elective positions in the forthcoming general elections in the country.
Alhassan made the call in Jalingo on Thursday at a one day awareness and sensitization program organized by the Federal ministry of women affairs in collaboration with UNWomen to support women’s increase participation in the 2019 general elections for women in the Northeast.
The UDP flag bearer who said that she does not believe in women liberation as women are created as respectable partners with men rather than weak and helpless slaves in dire need of liberation, urge women to set aside envy for their fellow women and work towards the success of women seeking various elective positions in the forthcoming general elections.
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“This sensitization program affords us the opportunity to reflect on he plight of Nigerian women in politics. While it is clear that the men would always want to suppress the womenfolks, I believe that if the women decide to support their fellow women, we can make a woman the next Nigerian President.
“We have the numbers and are the ones that do most of the voting.
“We can do it if we realize our collective potentials and take advantage of it.
“Personally, I don’t believe in women liberation because we are not slaves. We are created as active partners who work beside the men to bring about greatness. We must therefore rise up and take up our place as respectful partners in development with the men, rather than presenting ourselves as weak and vulnerable slaves who need to be liberated”, she said.
Meanwhile, the minister of women affairs and social development Hajiya Aisha Abubakar has blamed the low participation and representation of women in politics on “entrenched sociocultural practices which are discriminatory against the women and have made the society so patriarchal that most Nigerians including women accept the traditional perspective that women are inferior, weak, and must remain under the absolute control of men”.
The minister lamented that the huge financial implications of politicking, religious practices and deliberate efforts by political parties to humiliate and frustrate women in politics has driven many women from politics and has ensured that the men continue to take the centre stage and to dominate the political scene, making politics seem like an all man affairs that women should not venture into.
One of the women candidates, Mrs Janet Audu, who is the State Assembly candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Taraba state noted that the challenges of women participating in politics were enormous but not insurmountable as women are capable of achieving whatever they set their minds to.
Business Day correspondent reports that the program which featured paper presentations on women participation in politics and governance drew participants from the six states in the Northeast.
