Abbas Backs Gender Bills, Promises Swift Passage
Speaker Abbas promises to back gender-neutral laws
On Thursday, Hon. Tujudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, pledged to back gender-neutral legislation that would boost the representation of women in the legislature and enhance their political prospects.
Abbas pledged to eventually boost women's political engagement during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between his office and UN Women on Wednesday night in Abuja.
The Speaker, however, advocated for early lobbying and advocacy on the measures to gain support from all interested parties, including those in rural regions, as well as from parliamentarians. He was represented by his deputy, Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
He said: “I'm also happy to express my satisfaction and that of the Speaker with the signing of the MoU that will take place today for joint advocacy efforts on the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill and women's parliamentary seats.
“I have always advocated that women if you want to push this, you need to start early to advocate, set up the structure. And I'm happy that things like this are coming on board.
“I have always advocated that women if you want to push this, you need to start early to advocate, set up the structure. And I'm happy that things like this are coming on board.
“Many of them will come on board, which will be used as tools towards lobbying the men, lobbying the constituents, who are the ones who have sent their Representatives here, because these Representatives don't make decision on their own. The day they vote, they are not voting on their own, they are voting based on what their constituents have asked them to do.
“So, the advocacy should not only be within the people's parliament, it should go beyond that and go into the rural areas, the constituents. Let them know why we want to do this, let them see the comparative analysis between our country and other countries, let them see what we are missing by not going this route all this while, and let them see what we are going to gain if we go this route.
“Let me mention that I am at the forefront of the sponsorship of this bill. I'm carrying it on my head and my shoulders, but I can't do it alone. These people who are seated here must have a buy-in, but I won't be the one convincing them alone.
“You have a lot of work to do. Each wife talks to her fellow wife. Each fellow wife talks to each husband. Each husband talks to each son. And together, from home, we can chorus acceptance and increase the space for the participation of these women in parliament.
“I want to also promise you that we are going to be committed to the details of the MoU, to upholding the provisions of the MoU, the one on our part. But it's not a document we are going to sign and just go and sleep.
“Some of us are lawyers who understand the importance of a document like this. We are assuring you that the parliament will do our part.
“Women parliamentary seats will increase. How we are going to structure it, no matter how, let's start from somewhere. We may not get to the endpoint, but the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. And this is one of the good steps. An organization like the UN participating means a lot.”
The UN Women's Country Representative to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ms. Beatrice Eyong, had earlier stated in her remarks that the purpose of their visit to the national assembly was to ask for the speaker's and deputy speaker's support in providing women with leadership opportunities so they can contribute their fair share to the swift development and growth of Nigeria.
“UN women work with parliaments in different countries because parliaments represent the people. UN Women works for the people. Parliaments enact laws. UN Women is looking for favourable legal frameworks that will allow women and girls to use their full potential.
“When we look at the rating in Africa, or let me say in ECOWAS, Nigeria seems to be going maybe the lowest. But this is not what we are here to talk about. We are here to talk about the desire of the parliament to bring about sustainable development.
“And sustainable development science has shown that we need at least 30% of each sex sitting to plan and implement follow-up programs of development. If we have a disequilibrium between women and men, then the development cannot be sustainable.
“And so that's why we are here today because we find in the leadership of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker that understand these issues and that believe that if our women are given the opportunity, Nigeria is going to develop rapidly more than if we leave them outside.
“So, we are here today to sign an MoU which has been shared by the two institutions to put our forces together so that we can change the narrative of this wonderful, strong, beautiful country. We are here to sign this MoU that will enable us to meet our shared objectives,” she said.
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