The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas has lamented that systemic barriers hinder women’s participation and limit their ability to influence policies that affect their lives and communities.
Abbas states this on Thursday in Abuja at a one-day high level national summit on women inclusion, saying it was instructive to recognise the critical role that women play within the society.
He added that despite women’s demographic advantage, it was disheartening to note that women’s representation in governance has not kept pace with their numbers.
The Speaker stressed that over the years, the country has witnessed a persistent underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions across various sectors.
Abbas added: “This disparity is not merely a statistic; it reflects systemic barriers that hinder women’s participation and limit their ability to influence policies that affect their lives and communities.”
Abbas stressed that the 10th National Assembly was also concerned about the low level of women representation in governance.
Earlier, the Executive Director, Centre LSD, Monday Osasah said Nigeria lags far behind the sub-Saharan average in relation to female political representation.
Osasah who was represented by Ms. Magret Fagboro stressed that Nigeria ranks among the 10 lowest performers, with less than four per cent female representation in the national parliament compared to countries like Rwanda (61.25 per cent), South Africa (46.1 per cent), Namibia (44.23 pet cent), Senegal (38.21 oer cent), Mozambique (36.86 per cent) and others.
