One Year After, how have Nigerian Women Faired Under Tinubu?
By Nafisat Bello
“We campaign in poetry and govern in prose”
That was the 52nd governor of New York, Late Mario Cuomo, at his philosophical best. The father of equally famous Andrew Cuomo (the 56th governor of New York), Chris Cuomo (formerly of CNN), Maldeline Cuomo and others, sought to highlight the difference between the idealistic and inspirational language used during political campaigns (poetry) and the practical, detailed, and often less glamorous work of actually governing (prose).
During a political campaign, candidates often use lofty language, grand visions, and emotional appeals to inspire and rally supporters. This poetic language is meant to capture people’s imagination, convey a sense of hope and possibility, and motivate voters to support the candidate.
However, once a candidate is elected and becomes responsible for governing, the focus shifts to the practicalities of implementing policies, making decisions, and managing the day-to-day operations of government. This work is often more detailed, complex, and less glamorous than the rhetoric of a political campaign.
In essence, the phrase suggests that while it is important to inspire and motivate people with grand ideas and visionary language during a campaign, the real test of leadership comes in the day-to-day work of governing, where attention to detail, pragmatism, and effective decision-making are crucial.
The above illustration is the story of Nigerian politics and governance. The period of electioneering is always fun for voters who attend rallies and are treated to tales of fantastic promises, sweet comedy, music and dance (poetry). But the period of governance comes with a different dimension of seriousness where the leaders see reality and want the people to tighten their belts (prose).
To pack millions of Nigerian women’s votes in the 2023 election, President Bola Tinubu made a lot of promises during electioneering. It is now left to be seen in the course of this piece if one year after, the man has also deployed the Cuomo tactics to lure our women to bed with sweet ‘poetry’ while delivering serious ‘prose’ since May 29, 2023.
The 35% Affirmative Action
Women in Africa have in recent years been breaking glass ceilings and making tremendous strides in governance. Countries like Liberia, Rwanda and others have had female presidents while a lot more have had top parliamentarians, ministers heading critical beats and all that.
In Rwanda, over 60 percent of legislators are women while other countries have over 30 percent.
Unfortunately, adequate attention has not been paid to the call for addressing the disparity between men’s and women’s participation in politics in Nigeria, as the country keeps lagging behind despite having almost half its population consisting of women.
Nigeria is yet to produce an elected governor while the women in the National Assembly are less than 10 percent!
Meanwhile, the issue of mainstreaming women in leadership roles is a global mandate of the United Nations (UN) that had metamorphosed into 35% ‘Affirmative Action’ (AA).
Since 1999, no Nigerian President has been able to achieve the 35% women representation affirmative action as also stipulated in the National Gender Policy (NGP) of 2006.
President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed only three women out of 28 ministers in 1999 and that was just about 11 percent. The number increased to nine women out of 30 cabinet members in his second term from 2003 – 2007. And that was 30 percent which was short of the 35 percent required. We can say it was a close shot, but still it wasn’t enough.
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration also failed to achieve the specified percentage, as he only appointed nine women out of 36 ministers and that was a 25 percent performance.
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President Muhammadu Buhari appointed six women out of 42 ministers in his first term making it 14 percent. In his second term, he increased the number to seven female ministers out of a list of 43, making a total of 16% of women in his cabinet.
Tinubu’s Poetry Versus Prose
Recognising the daunting need to put in place necessary measures to give equal rights to both genders and achieve the 35% affirmative action, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) stated in his written and signed manifesto titled: “Renewed Hope 2023: Action Plan For A Better Nigeria’, that he will push for legislation to increase women’s participation in governance.
Taking into cue the immense potential of the Nigerian women and youths especially how they constitute the majority of the voting population during election, yet they are not considered when it’s time for sharing the spoils of electoral victories. The President made it a cornerstone of his administration to create avenues for their growth, development, and success. An action that will also accelerate Nigeria’s compliance to the UN gender action.
According to Tinubu’s document, “This legislation shall also mandate the federal executive (particularly the cabinet and core senior advisers) to reserve a minimum number of senior positions for women.”
A year into President Tinubu’s administration, he has not acted on the legislation he promised. Available data also shows that women hold 18.75% of ministerial positions, approximately half of the target percentage.
Social Investment/ Healthcare Reforms
But the fate of women can’t be restricted to the issue of appointment. There has to be a space for empowerment through poverty alleviation, social schemes, health reforms etc.
The Tinubu administration sustained his predecessor’s fuel subsidy removal policy and also floated the Naira. The two controversial policies have caused massive inflation in the prices of goods, foods and basic services and also a significant reduction in people’s purchasing power. Women have been at the receiving end of the consequent economic hardship in the last one year.
On the other hand, the administration has equally introduced a couple of palliative measures meant to cushion the effect of the above polices, and women have been the largest beneficiaries of such measures.
Also, President Tinubu’s reforms in the health sector which are being executed through the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, have been the best thing to have happened to women in recent years.
His Renewed Hope Agenda targets special treatment for women and girls including the elderly and aims to defeat cervical cancer, breast cancer as well as other terminal and vaccine-preventable diseases. Already, the HPV vaccination has been democratised and thousands of Nigerian girls have benefited in the last few months.
The Ministry of Health has equiped 1,400 Primary Health Care Centres to provide Skilled Birth attendance and reduce infant and maternal mortality in the country.
The project, which covers 8,300 facilities, was funded through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
Pate revealed this during the presentation of the health sector achievements at the Ministerial Sectorial Briefing.
According to Pate, more than 2,400 health workers, including nurses, doctors and midwives, have been recruited to provide services to Nigerians, many of whom are women in rural areas delivering essential services.
Last Line
The romance between President Tinubu and Nigerian women can be described as a bitter-sweet experience for the latter. The former promised to give adequate slots to women in his appointments. But this promise cannot be be said to have been fully fulfilled even though there are a couple of outstanding women occupying important positions in the administration.
President Tinubu has already exhausted 25 percent of his four-year tenure and he runs a race against time to fulfill the rest of his promises to Nigerian women.
