Adejoke Stephanie Henry

“Mommy, are we ever going to have a female president in Nigeria?”

Two days ago, my daughter jolted me out of my reverie, with this question. We were watching a television programme about the Edo governorship elections at the time. In that moment, I asked myself how I would answer this simple yet very complex question.

I mumbled an unsure ‘yes, why not, someday, soon” in reply. After a while I asked myself the same question introspectively, to see if I could find a logical answer or at least make a prediction. Instead of an answer, I got another very pertinent question?

Is Nigeria ripe for a female president?

First, a little background. The political relevance of Nigerian women is not questionable. Over the years you will find hundreds of womenfolk gathered at every political rally. They sing, dance, offer support to their male counterparts. On the Election Day, you will see them, old and young alike, faithfully queuing up to cast their ballot for their preferred candidates (who are mostly males).

To put this in perspective, women account for approximately 40 million of the 84 million registered voters nationwide in the last national election. This means that they make- up 47.14 percent of the total eligible voters – a potently powerful force to be reckoned. Why then can’t a female presidential candidate emerge and win an election in this nation?

So, are we going to have a female president in Nigeria anytime soon? Why not? There are, however, many questions needing answer before a definite ‘’Yes’ can be offered. I asked myself many:

What do women lack? Is it expertise? Knowledge? Goodwill? The crowd? The financial backing? What bottlenecks exist to cripple their ambition? Is it their gender? Financial strength? Family life? Government policies? Themselves? What really is the obstacle that has prevented Nigeria from producing a female president in almost 60 years of independence? What is the political environment like? Is it favourable to women? What default discriminatory settings need to be adjusted, e.g. political night meetings? Expensive nomination forms?

After this internal monologue, I decided to assess how women have even fared in their quest for the nation’s number one job in the past.

Mrs Sarah Nnadzwa Jibril was Nigeria’s first female presidential candidate. She aspired to the presidency several times and all fell through, losing to both former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo twice and Goodluck Jonathan. She got only one vote when she slugged it out with Goodluck Jonathan to become the party’s flag bearer. As usual, she was compensated with appointments.

In 2015, Oluremi Sonaiya, the only woman in that contest, also ran for Nigeria’s topmost office under the KOWA Party. This attempt too didn’t get too far.

In 2019, 55-year-old Oby Ezekwesili was one of the 73 candidates that were in the presidential race. The former World Bank Vice-president, co-founder of the anti-corruption group, Transparency International, and leader of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign contested on the platform of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria. Sadly, however, on January 24, 2019 in a series of tweets, Mrs Ezekwesili expressed her decision to step down and focus on helping to build a coalition as alternative to the dominant political parties in the nation.

Former Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf reviewing a guard of honor at the National Palace during her official visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, February 28, 2017.

I remember how Oby’s announcement shattered me then. Her tenacious participation in the race for Aso Rock had fanned the embers of hope in my heart as a woman. Her withdrawal cut deep. This was 2019, the year after Singapore and Vietnam elected their first female presidents. This was 2019, when Ethiopia elected Sahle-work Zewde as her first female president to lead a 50 percent female cabinet. Rwanda, a country still bearing the scars of genocide has 61 percent female legislature, hugely contrasting Nigeria’s 5.6 per cent female representation, the lowest in an African country included in the UN’s women in Politics map.

On a parting note, I would like to ask, how did Liberia beat Nigeria to having a female head of state in Africa? Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the 24th and first female president of her country from 16th January 2006 to the 22nd of January 2018, and it was 12 good years of commendable leadership. One would have thought that Nigeria, being a trail blazer in African politics would have been the one to lead the way in the continent.

Nigeria, a leading voice to be to be reckoned with in advocacy and policy making regarding issues of gender equality and women empowerment, should have championed this mission for full female participation and representation in the continental politics. Alas! She is the one having to queue behind smaller countries who have achieved this feat ahead of her.

It is not too late. Nigeria is ripe for a female president. If it doesn’t happen in my life time, I pray it happens in my daughter’s lifetime.

Pulse Contributors is an initiative to highlight diverse journalistic voices. Pulse Contributors do not represent the company Pulse and contribute on their own behalf.

About the author: Adejoke Stephanie Henry is a school Administrator, writer, and media content creator. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication, with a major in Television and Radio Broadcasting from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. ADEJOKE is a wife and a mother. She writes from Abuja.

Oby leads the Bring Back Our Girls group to Aso Rock on August 22, 2016

&nbsp;It is not too late. Nigeria is ripe for a female president

Are we ever going to have a female president in Nigeria? [Pulse Contributor's Opinion] 

Take it from me: the Nigerian woman is amongst the most beautiful and most desirable in the world. Her carriage, elegance and poise is unique. She carries so much grit, strength and resilience that you would wonder what unknown materials the Almighty made her from. Beyond the physical, another asset of the Nigerian woman is the quality of her mind. She is unarguably amongst the most brillian in the world and you can name countless greats among them.

One example of a great Nigerian woman is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a woman of many deserving accolades: internationally acclaimed economist and development expert, who rose to the top at the World Bank and is a Special Envoy to Mobilise International Economic Support for Continental Fight Against COVID-19 as the world battles the pandemic. Her feats at home are no less remarkable:&nbsp;she is Nigeria’s two-time Finance Minister with impeccable record and no stain on her name. You could say, and everyone would agree, that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a great Nigerian woman (with a good chance to become head of the World Trade Organization). And she is not the only one.

Many more Nigerian women have risen to great international positions, managing intimidating portfolios, and proving to the world that, given the same enabling environment, they can excel in ALL areas of human endeavour. However, these successes have not come cheaply. The personal cost for individual women is often huge: personal compromise, career losses, marital failure or challenges, societal disapproval and even labelling. The Nigerian woman continues to wade through gender discrimination in a male dominated society. Indeed, it is not yet uhuru for the Nigerian woman. There are still many social, political, economic and cultural hurdles militating against her total evolution and liberation.

Here are four key challenges she still faces:

The true plague facing the Nigerian woman right now is gender-based violence. It has been here for generations, but it seems to be increasing rather than declining despite the global social evolution. This violence manifests in their homes, on the streets, in the markets, in relationships, in work places, places of worship and everywhere. There are husbands still beating, maiming and killing wives. There are widows stripped of every human dignity at the death of their husbands. There are defenceless old women being raped in their homes.

According to WHO, “Globally 1 in 3 women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, mostly by an intimate partner“. For Nigeria, the International Growth Center writes that “30% of women and girls aged 15-49” have suffered gender-based violence. This is alarming to say the least.

In recent times, gender-based violence has taken on a very frightening dimension –babies, toddlers, young adults and the aged fall victim of rape, students and professionals are required to offer sex for grades they have earned or jobs they qualify for.

A UNICEF report states that about 10.5 million Nigerian children are not in school, despite the fact that there is free and compulsory primary education. This number becomes more interesting when you read further in the report that “the education deprivation in Northern Nigeria is driven by various factors… that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls’’. Therefore, while we continue to celebrate the likes of the Okonjo-Iwealas and Amina Mohammed, millions of girls all over Nigeria, especially in Northern Nigeria, still cannot get an education and aspire to greatness.&nbsp;Can we ever forget the abduction of the Chibok girls? How about Leah Sharibu? Those girls went to school and their lives changed forever.

<h1>PREFERENCE OF MALE CHILDREN OVER FEMALES</h1>

Right from her conception, the Nigerian girl child starts as a second choice of her own parents because many cultures place premium male children offspring, and considers the female a liability. Recent reports allege that a man hurled his newborn baby to the ground on learning of her sex; he had been expecting a baby boy and killing his own daughter was his way of showing his disappointment. This is not an isolated case: many women have lost marriages, suffered untold emotional and physical pain and even lost their lives in the search for male children to appease obsessed husbands and in-laws, as it is the only way to fully become a member of the family. This search often leads to sad trails of sad tales of polygamy and polygyny.

It is unbelievable that, in 2020, while the wold is experiencing astounding medical, technological and social evolutions, the Nigerian girl is still a victim of the destructive socio-cultural practice that female genital mutilation is. According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health “Nigeria, due to its large population has the highest number of FGM worldwide, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115-130 million circumcised women in the world.”

While the battle is still on, in terms of advocacy and policy drive to stem the tide of this harmful practice, many innocent girls are still being victimised.

The Nigerian woman is still a long way from home. It is not yet uhuru! No, far from it. The hurdles are still high and many. Nevertheless, there is undeniable progress and she now has a voice that humanity must hear. Everyone must support the Nigerian woman because total evolution and liberation is the missing piece in the attainment of actualization of her dreams as a people.

I am a Nigerian woman and I know the future is bright.

Home is still a long distance away for the Nigerian woman..

The Nigerian woman is not yet free, but the future is bright

<h1>How many times have we heard people say these things around us? How often, daily, have the media echoed this frightening reality? How often do we verbalize these statements, ourselves?&nbsp;</h1>

It is no longer news that the Covid19 Pandemic has shaken the world to its core. It started like a joke with the first confirmed case on November, 17, 2019 in Wuhan, China before spreading to more than 170 countries, rattling most economies and claiming over 809,000 deaths globally.

All affected countries are fishing for new strategies and coping mechanisms to adopt in revamping their economies and seeking ways to offer support to their citizens who have lost jobs and businesses because of the prolonged lockdown.

Nigeria is also battling with the effects. With over 52,000 cases, over 38,000 recoveries and a little over 1000 deaths, Nigeria had to ease her lock-down being in phases to avoid a total economic collapse, especially with the crash in oil revenue which happens to be the mainstay of the nation’s economy.

It would not be out of place to say that, the Covid19 pandemic has exposed our society’s failings like never before. It has laid bare the accumulated years of failure of leadership. The rot of two very critical sectors – our public health and education – have become glaring, shamefully. While we had always known that these sectors are neglected, not many of us were prepared for the confrontation of the abysmal reality of it all.&nbsp;

Unfortunately, while Covid19 has forced urgent attention for the health sector, the education sector looks ever more likely to fall off the cliff on which it has been precariously set. With the exception of the high-fee private schools that were able to keep a semblance of academic studies alive during the lockdown, Nigeria’s education apparatus totally collapsed.

These private schools, through their various online platforms and various digital tools, such as the Zoom App, Google classroom, Google Teams, Screencastify and even Whatsapp, continued teaching their students. The problem is that their student are the few children of the very affluent.

The majority of students, who attend private and public schools, which do not have the resources for online studies have remained locked-down and out of learning. Some of their schools are permanently out of business, as they relied on fees to stay afloat.&nbsp;

The pandemic and ensuing lockdown exposed our many mushroom private schools and underfunded public schools for what they truly are: inefficient academic institutions. They form the bulk of our school system and cater for the vast majority of students in many parts of Nigeria but could not operate online school successfully.

Firstly, they have teachers who do not possess the needed digital skills to adapt to this new demand. These teachers are too poor to pay to learn the required new skills. The schools and teachers who do not possess the needed digital tools such as laptops and good internet facilities.&nbsp;

Beyond the teachers and schools’ failings, even their students do not have the means to learn from home, if we bring this Covid19 education reality back to majority of students’ homes. They do not have e-learning tools such as computers/ smartphones, internet access and even steady power supply.

Some of them do, but their parents are not skilled enough to guide them through learning. Worse still, many parents were not willing to pay for this “extra’’ arrangement, especially at a time when most of them faced salary cuts, job losses and failed businesses.

Now, the question is this, if private schools grappled unsuccessfully with this challenge, what then happened to pupils/students in government schools? What was the lot of millions of children who depend on public institutions of learning? What happened to schools and pupils in towns and villages spread across the 774 local governments of our dear country?

Your guess is as good as mine is. They hibernated, and are still hibernating, away while the children of the affluent learn unhindered in the ‘exciting new realities of online education’. Surprisingly, even tertiary institutions that should have been at the forefront of e-learning mostly remained closed. Talk about the irony of a nation steeped in an abject lack of vision and purposefulness.&nbsp;

Did government put any contingency plan in place for these ones? Perhaps you could point to the promised televised school on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). How many of them know the television station exist? Do they have the power supply to watch it? Did the broadcast even happen at all? You can guess the answers. .&nbsp;

<h3>What then can we deduce from all that has happened so far?&nbsp;</h3>

<ol><li>Qualitative education in our nation remains a privilege reserved for the very rich at all levels. Only their children had any form of education during this lockdown.&nbsp;</li><li>The education sector is manned by the very worst hands. It starts from the origin when colleges of education admit Universities and Polytechnics rejects. It is a fact that very few brilliant people choose the teaching profession willingly. For the majority, education studies and careers are a last resort.</li><li>Teachers are paid too poorly and it affects everything. In countries like Germany, teachers earn some of the best wages.&nbsp;Here, teachers are the least paid and least respected professionals. Some earn as little as 10,000 monthly. Even university professors are not spared this embarrassment, earning far less than uneducated politicians and having to run private businesses and farming to survive</li><li>Nigeria has many schools but few good schools. Schools are everywhere but most have nothing to offer. Not so long ago, I read my ward’s books and saw that her teacher wrote that Nigeria has 33 states. I sent a strongly worded letter to the school’s management and withdrew my ward.&nbsp;</li></ol>

Overall, we have a terrible situation. I have concluded that, if nothing is done urgently, the entire economy will fall victim. Already our educational system churns out graduates who cannot read, write or make simple sentences. They are the product of a failed, vicious cycle of deep seethed mediocrity, which started from the foundational stage.&nbsp;

Coming back to the issue at hand, it is still not clear when schools will resume. Some private schools have at least put some conditions in place for resumption – at further expense to parents. However, one wonders how prepared public schools are. Some of these public schools, like the one I attended in Kaduna almost twenty years ago have almost 100 pupils per class. How will schools manage them amidst the Covid19 realities?

How would social distancing be maintained? Who would provide face masks and other safety needs for pupils and staff? Should government provide these things, who will ensure that the staff do not take these things home or sell them in a system so steeped with corruption? What happens to the overall school curriculum? Are there policies in place?

I can only conclude that the prolonged closure of schools is because government is unprepared and is only trying to save face by maintaining school closure. Whether this is true or not, the children of the poor that are the ultimate losers!&nbsp;

As some people would ask, “Which way Nigeria”?

-----

Education in COVID-19: Children of poor Nigerians are the ultimate losers. [Businessday]

&nbsp;‘’We are in unusual times” and “This is the new normal.”

Education in COVID-19: Children of poor Nigerians are the ultimate losers [Pulse Contributor's Opinion] 

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Adejoke Stephanie Henry

Articles written by the author

Are we ever going to have a female president in Nigeria? [Pulse Contributor's Opinion]

The Nigerian woman is not yet free, but the future is bright

Education in COVID-19: Children of poor Nigerians are the ultimate losers [Pulse Contributor's Opinion]