•  lagos
• Friday, April 08, 2011
• Inter Press Service

As Nigeria tries again to begin its staggered general elections on Apr. 9, spare a thought for the women who will be putting themselves forward as candidates in an overwhelmingly male field.

'Men say they have what it takes and that women are weaker vessels who have no powers,' Adebimpe Akinsola, who is seeking election to the Lagos State House of Assembly told IPS. 'They have always intimidated women. But now we want to tell them that where there is no woman, nothing can be done successfully.'

Akinsola says that most male politicians influence voters with money. She said that during her campaign, she too has been asked for money by voters. 'But I tell them that if you take money, you are selling your vote and your conscience to people who you cannot hold accountable if they do not perform.'

Her promise to the electorate is to bring government closer to the people if she wins a seat in the state assembly. Akinsola says women have shied away from politics because of the belief that a woman in politics is not responsible and cannot take care of her home. But she feels that through advocacy and enlightenment more women and men of integrity are now going into politics in Nigeria.

'We need such people to be able to deliver the dividend of democracy better to the people instead of leaving politics in the hands of charlatans and thugs.'

There are 88 women standing for seats in Nigeria's Senate and 218 vying for a place in the House of Representatives. Five women will be on the ballot for governor in various states on Apr. 26 and many male gubernatorial aspirants have women as running mates.

Four hundred and ninety-five women will be hoping to be voted into the 36 State Houses of Assembly. The statistics show declining success for women since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999. Just 631 women surmounted the challenge of party primaries to contest the roughly 1,900 positions in the 1999 elections. One hundred eighty-one actually made it into office.

In the 2007 elections, 660 women made it through party primaries, but only 93 gained office nation-wide. Following the 2007 elections, Patricia Olubunmi Etteh was named as Speaker of the House, the highest political post achieved by a woman in Nigeria.

Chibogu Obinwa of the NGO Baobab for Women Human Rights, based in Lagos, said, 'We have come a long way and women activists have over the years advocated for increase in the number of women in positions of decision-making, whether elected or appointed. We believe that men and women should be given equal opportunities and also equal access to those opportunities.'

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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