Re – Race to 2023: Can A Nigerian Woman Become President? -By Harrison Nwachukwu

– I have a dream, that one day, a woman will emerge as the President of Nigeria, and the dream is now!!! – Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies (PMA)

The search light is now currently on female presidency in Nigeria. Mr. Bamikole Omishore on April 18, 2021 after an article which he wrote and had published, “On the road to 2023”, in which he expressed disappointment at the abysmal representation of women in leadership positions in political parties and government, was challenged by some concerned Nigerians to list women who have got the needed mettle and pedigree to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The names he listed includes: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ibukun Awosika, Abiodun Olujimi, Rinsola Abiola and Arunma Oteh amongst others from his survey, in another article titled “Race to 2023: Can A Nigerian Woman Become President?”

He went on to touch on the needed elements in the making of a 21st century Nigerian president. “To run a country as complex as Nigeria, we need people with sound mind, passion, vision, strong character, mission, competence, courage and capacity, which unfortunately, is lacking to a great extent in the present crop of leaders in the country.”

“However, the pesky question is; if men had their way running the affairs of Nigeria without any set criteria, why should a bar be set for women since there was no condition in situ for men? The answer to this is that we have to start looking for competent leaders, while we advocate gender parity. There is no doubt both qualified and unqualified women currently in positions in government. However, it’s important that we pursue gender parity while not neglecting competence. Anyone running for office needs to be competent regardless of gender. One of the age-old arguments against gender parity as regards elective office is that competence will suffer if we insist on gender equality. This has been proved to be untenable; some Nigerians are just unwilling to put in the effort to find competent women for their organisations and leadership positions.

Therefore, the questions are, “What are the hurdles that make women who have been successful in the private sector and other areas reluctant to pivot and apply themselves in public service and party politics? How can women-focused organisations such as ElectHerNG, Winbiz and Feminist Coalition help strategize and improve the chances of women in upcoming elections?

“One of the challenges women face along this path is navigating a sinister world where no real procedure is followed — words are not kept, promises are not sacred, and meetings are held at odd hours. For woman/women to be elected as President or Governor, there must be room to ensure the emergence of women in top leadership positions in political parties — not just as women leaders but as party chairpersons, zonal heads, ward chairpersons, public relations, and any other position that will allow more women representation as party executives, and ultimately as delegates — an integral part of the screening process for candidates — and hopefully they will then be able to fight for more women representation in elective posts.

“There is also the challenge of funding; elections in Nigeria are capital intensive. In Nigeria today, it costs a fortune to run for any political office let alone that of the President. For instance, Feminist Coalition, a group of young women have shown they know how to raise funds in unconventional ways, considering how they were able to mobilise funds for the #EndSARS protests. So, a female presidential candidate could partner them to crowd-source funds for her electioneering activities — enough to reach every nook and cranny of the 774 local government areas.

“The support of men who believe in the #girlchild and equality of women will also be critical in the success of women in politics. While some male politicians haven’t really thrown their weight behind female politicians for major elective offices, it is imperative that any female candidate gunning for an executive position find strong allies that are committed to ensuring she clinches the position. A woman becoming president, governor or party chairperson will change the status quo for good. It requires working across the aisle and political dexterity.

Personally, he thinks the key to turning around the political and economic landscape in Nigeria is massive women participation in politics. We have seen multiple times how great things are achieved in Nigeria when women mobilise for a common goal. There needs to be national support; a lot of work needs to be done to ensure the gender equality bill is passed. It shouldn’t just be discussed on International Women’s Day; it needs to be brought forward and whatever that needs to be done to ensure it’s passage needs to be done. Also, all female senators need to use their political capital to ensure this gets done. This is the starting point from which many more milestones can be built upon.

Interestingly, it’s now 2023, and in practical terms, first to declare her intention is a lady academic politician, the Presidential candidate of Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA) in the 2019 election, Prof. Mercy Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies (PMA). She has declared her interest to contest during the 2023 general election for the President of Nigeria on the platform of the PDP, urging all women to participate actively and give her their full support.

Adesanya-Davies said, “I will contest! I have a dream, that one day, a woman will emerge as the President of Nigeria, and the dream is now!!! We, women need to try our best in 2023 at all levels. From now onwards, every woman should endeavour to speak to at least fifty women to vote for a ‘woman President,’ in Nigeria. Tell five women daily from now till 2023 elections. Remember, Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Your happiness starts from you and not from someone else.’ So should all the Nigerian youth and all the ‘he for she’ and all the men campaign and vote for the first female president in Nigeria in 2023. This could and would be the only functional approach.

Adesanya-Davies is the current Country President and International Director of United Nations Positive Livelihood Award Centre (UN-POLAC) International Peace Advocates. She said that, “when intelligent, dedicated and women of excellence are empowered and put in top political positions, corruption, lack of development and all forms of vices and violence in their entirety can completely be exhumed from Nigeria.”

In fact at the time of this writing, there are over six female aspirants for the 2023 presidential election, as in 2019 candidates compared to the previous elections in which there was only one in 2015. The 2011 election had only one female candidate. Top among them are namely:

1. Mercy Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies
Academic, Linguist and Communication Arts Expert… (People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

2. Joyce Ogochukwu Nsaka
Founder of Sozo Women Foundation
(The African Democratic Congress (ADC).

3. Cesnabmihilo Dorothy Nuhu-Aken’Ova
SRHR, Population and Development Expert
(Social Democratic Party (SDP).

4. Ann Dozie-Enukora
HR Professional Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (Defunct DPR)
Department of Petroleum Resources
(All Progressives People’s Party (APC).

5. Elizabeth Emmanuel
Elizabeth Emmanuel
Experienced Local government coordinator/ local government chairman (ACCORD Party).

6. Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi Media Entrepreneur and Youth Development Advocate.

However, this is not their number that matters considering that Nigerian women such as Margaret Ekpo and Funmilayo Ransome Kuti were fighting in the 50s for Nigeria’s independence side by side with their male counterparts. It is their ability to secure ticket under the PDP and APC (The two major political parties in the country.)

If we also consider the fact that women constitute about 49% of the population, then we have every reason to worry about the low representation of women in both elective and appointive political offices. Even though the Federal Government has accepted 35% women representation in appointive offices it has never met the target.

A country such as Rwanda has a 50/50 representation of both sexes in appointive offices. There is no justifiable reason why Nigeria which has a large number of well-educated women should not give them more opportunities in governance than they are currently given.
As we watch out for more womens declaration, it is now obvious that the Nigerian women are sincerely and seriously ready for the 2023 presidential bid, if they can secure tickets during the primaries. We wish them God’s speed!