Natasha Akpoti: An Amazon’s Inspirational Journey to the Senate

Natasha Akpoti: An Amazon’s Inspirational Journey to the Senate

By Nafisat Bello

It has been over 40 years since the entry into force of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international bill of rights for women that was adopted by the United Nation (UN) General Assembly. Twenty-six years down the line after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which set the international target for reaching gender equality in political decision-making, it is quite disheartening that despite this progress, women are still underrepresented across all levels of political leadership.

However, while some countries have made progress towards gender balance in politics, the vast majority are still lagging behind. According to UN records, in 114 countries, between 10% and 29.9% of parliamentarians are women, and in 25 countries, women make up less than 10% of parliamentarians. Women also account for less than 30% of ministers in 130 countries, 12 of which have no women representation at all. Gaps in politics persist because of structural barriers and challenges that reinforce discriminatory beliefs, norms, practices and policies.

Since then, the world’s consciousness has been focused on the plight of women, especially the ambitious ones who have a lot to offer but are never given a chance to contribute their quota to governance and professional areas. Due to the scarcity of women at the apex of political power, as well as lack of methods to disentangle the potential sources of this under-representation, some activists like Marilyn Loden, an American writer who coined the phrase “glass ceiling,” provoked the United Nations and its affiliates to initiate the 35 percent affirmative action and other initiatives meant to widen the political space for women.

However, some women are beginning to break the glass ceiling in politics and making an impact. It is true that for decades, the country has never had a female President, Vice President, Senate President or elected Governor and the highest elective position a woman has ever attained at the state level is the Deputy Governor and at the federal level is the Speaker of the House of the Representatives.

The only female who ever crossed that line at the state level was Dame Virginia Etiaba, who was Deputy Governor of Anambra state when her principal, Governor Peter Obi, was impeached. She served for three months as Governor before the courts reinstated Mr Obi and she went back as Deputy Governor.

Another lady who got close was the brave and tenacious Aisha Dahiru popularly known as Aishatu Binani who won the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Adamawa state. She polled 430 votes to defeat Nuhu Ribadu, the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and many other political bigwigs. Despite the gangup, anti-party and betrayal she suffered in the hands of misogynists and the fact that she was contesting against a powerful sitting governor, she fought so hard, forced a rerun and eventually lost the election narrowly.

But where the enemies of female ascension to power succeeded in Adamawa, they failed woefully in Kogi state as all the machinations to stop the iron lady called Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from representing Kogi Central in the Senate came to naught with the Appeal Court ruling that declared her winner of the February 25 election. The Court upheld the judgement of the election petition tribunal which voided the declaration of Abubakar Ohere of the APC by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the poll.

Before her deserved victory, the number of women in the current National Assembly had been abysmal and a source of concern to Nigerians of good conscience.

No Pain No Gain

Natasha’s rise to stardom has been full of thorns as people who were irritated by her gut to challenge the status quo did not make it easy for her at all. Her political journey dates back to 2018 when she made an attempt to challenge the incumbent Governor, Yahaya Bello, in the gubernatorial election. She also attempted to run for a seat in the National Assembly at the time to represent Kogi Central on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but all her efforts went in vain.

According to her, the governor planned to assassinate her for daring to give expression to her political ambition. She believed she lost the election because the governor manipulated and rigged the whole process in favour of his candidate. This led to her revealing how governor Bello had offered her N50 million at the time to step down from the race. But, instead of stepping down, she shifted focus to the governorship election in 2019.

Ahead of the 2023 polls, she then shifted attention the Senate. It is a case of what God has ordained, no one can challenge. Few days before the polls, it was reported that the governor’s thugs dug out a huge gully on roads leading to Natasha’s hometown, an attempt to prevent some of the officials of INEC from getting there to conduct the election. Her supporters defied all obstacles to vote for her massively. But the votes were massively rigged and Ohere was declared the winner. The rest is now history.

Natasha is known to be a rare breed, an iconic combination of the 3Bs (Brilliance, Beauty and Boldness). She has faced several forms of intimidation and harassment in her political journey in the state.

As a governorship candidate on the platform of the SDP in 2019, she was reportedly attacked and harassed by thugs. The same attack on her was also reported in December 2022, by political thugs where some of her supporters were injured and one shot dead during her rally from Okene to Adavi.

This has further proven without any doubt that intimidation of women in politics in Nigeria remains a persistent and troubling issue.

That is why many female politicians like Natasha continue to face various forms of intimidation and discrimination. Yet, she refused to give up, she kept on fighting, pushing until she finally achieved her aim. Natasha’s victory is a win in the fight for the protection of women’s political rights and also a motivation for other women in politics.

Meet Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

Born on the 9th of December 1979, to a Nigerian father, Dr. Jimoh Abdul Akpoti from Obeiba-Ihima, and a Ukrainian mother, Ludmila Kravchenk, Barrister Natasha Hadiza Akpoti-Uduaghan studied at the University of Abuja from 2000 to 2004 and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree.

She went to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Bar in 2005. She proceeded to the University of Dundee in 2011 and graduated with a Master of Laws degree in 2012. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Oil & Gas Management from the University of Dundee.

Apart from that, Natasha is a social entrepreneur, a politician and the founder of Builders Hub Impact Investment Program (BHIIP), a programme that has touched several souls, moved many citizens from abject poverty to self-sustenance and prosperity.

One fascinating thing about the programme is that over 1000 children across the country have benefitted from educational scholarship. She has also adopted children she came across hawking sundry food items and others filling potholes on the streets. She had rightly said: “I believe in the power of education as an essential life tool in eradicating poverty and no child must be deprived of such an opportunity”.

Again, in preparation for Christmas and New Year celebrations, Natasha also recently put smiles on the faces of her constituents as she distributed six trailers of rice, 20,000 notebooks and 10,000 wrappers among them.

Natasha gained popularity in March 2018 when she presented an investigative report to the National Assembly which highlighted the corrupt practices at the Ajaokuta Steel Mill and revealed how government funds were embezzled and misappropriated since the establishment of the steel company.

Meanwhile, Natasha, a mother of three, hails from Okehi in Kogi State. She got married on the 5th of March 2022 to the Alema of Warri, Chief Emmanuel Uduaghan in a ceremony at her native home in Ihima

Indeed, Natasha deserves commendation for her courage, determination, and resilience as she carries the hope of the Nigerian women to finally overcome the much-talked-about glass ceiling.