Activist Wants Women To Participate In Trade Unionism

A gender activist and unionist, Dr. Ngozi Iloh, on Monday urged Nigerian women to optimise their numerical strength to occupy trade union positions in the country.

“Quite a number of women with the requisite educational qualifications, experience and leadership acumen in Nigeria are still not interested in unionism,” Iloh said in a telephone interview with our correspondent.

She blamed the system of patriarchy and the lack of education for the low representation of women in political activism, adding that “the greatest challenge confronting women is their lackadaisical attitude to their liberation”.

“Experience has shown that there are many obstacles to overcome if the Nigerian woman is to take her rightful place in political decision making, but there is hope and the future is bright,” she said.

Iloh, who is National Welfare Officer of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), said that women were not deliberately marginalised, explaining that increasing university education would change the fortunes of Nigerian women.

She, however, said that women were excelling at the nation’s universities where many of them were holding top jobs.

“Statistics of women who are bursars, registrars, deans, heads of department, deputy vice chancellors and even vice chancellors have improved.

“The gender gap may be wide in other walks of life but surely not at the university level in the last decade,” she said.