By: Joy Odor/Kaduna
The Commissioner Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba has attributed that women aspirants fail to win elections to the fact that fellow women leaders support the male counterparts to the detriment of the women.
Hajiya Hafsat Baba who disclosed this in her office in Kaduna, on Thursday when the Executive Members of Women In Need Foundation-WINEED paid her a courtesy visit described the scenario not only unacceptable but unethical.
According to her, not until the ugly trend is corrected, no meaningful achievement can be recorded in women political struggles.
She charged Women Leaders to strengthen their efforts towards ensuring that women aspirants emerge victorious during elections.
The Commissioner also described their role as very key to winning elections, as such all hands must be on deck to see that more women spring up in the next dispensation.
“We have been in these struggles for a long time, quite true we are large in number, but we not using that numerical number”.
“If you are a woman leader, you are automatically a delegate because you are in the structure of the party. How can you be leading women and would not elect a fellow woman, that is where our problem lies.
“The most challenging aspect women face is the primaries because you have few people there to decide your fate and women do not want me to say anything in that direction but l will continue to say it until they understand.
“If we support fellow women and also lobby for them at every level, I think we can make a difference”.
Hajiya Hafsat commended WINEED, for sensitizing the women and urged them not to relent in their efforts, saying her Ministry is ready to partner with them to better the lots of women.
She enjoined women to stand firm in their political stride, noting that most women when they loss election, they give up and coil back into their shells.
The Commissioner called on the media to assist in creating a platform where women contestants can be engaged in the act of public speaking.
According to her, a woman seeking leadership position must be able to engage the press and be able to answer impromptu questions anytime, anywhere.
Earlier, The Executive Director of WINEED, Barrister Abiola Kamardeen while explaining the activities of the foundation said they are geared towards uplifting the general well-being of women in the state particularly those at the grass root level such as maternal health care, education, socio-economic and politics.
On the low participation of women in politics, the Legal Practitioners lamented that women constitute over 60% of Nigeria’s population which signifies that politically, the Nigerian woman is expected to be pulling weight within the political sphere but the reverse is the case.
Reason, she described as the ‘unfortunate’ factor of religion and custom particularly within the northern part of the country.
“It is really unfortunate that we have these militating factors and it would continue to be unfortunate if we women are not ready to take the bulls by the horns and sturdy.