‘Clinton, May’s Emergence, Good For Nigerian Women’

A women’s rights,
Barrister Debora Effiong has described the emergence of Mrs Hilary Clinton as presumptive presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in the United States and  assumption of office of Theresa May as British Prime Minister as a huge boost to the activities of women’s rights movement in Nigeria.
Effiong made the assertion in an interview with The Tide in her office in Port Harcourt over the weekend.
Describing the development as a welcome one that has global, continental and national impact, the gender rights activist said that the events do not only lend credence to their work but also avail them with worthy global examples that they could readily draw from in Nigeria.
“It speaks volumes to our work. It lends credence to what we’re doing because we’ve been trying to see how we can get those global examples which we can bring home here in Nigeria”, she said, adding that, “The question is if it’s in the UK, why not Nigeria? If it’s in the US, why not Nigeria?”
Effiong who is also the Executive Director, Arise for Gender and Livelihood Initiative (ALIVE), a non-governmental organisation averred that there may be a global paradigm shitf orchestrated by God to bring about a new order, adding that this may be a divine response to the clamour, advocacy and prayers of the activists over the years.
“We have several instruments guaranteeing women’s rights, several instruments promoting women’s inclusion in the political space but a lot of those instruments have not been adequately addressed or enforced within the context of our laws and legislation”, she lamented, arguing that “providence also has something to do with this”.
“I believe there’s a God who has a hand in the current global affairs. I feel strongly that our prayers are getting answered”, she stressed.
Effiong identified cultural stereotype as the singular most inhibiting factor against women’s involvement in politics in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, adding that the situation is so pervasive that women themselves have tended to accept the dominance of men to their exclusion and marginalization.
“It’s more of a cultural issue to me and that’s why the political space has not been opened up to encourage as many women as possible”, she said, noting that “The traditional gate-keepers are men, not women, traditional and anscestral stools are dominated by men in this part of the world”.
Regrettably, she said that this cultural setting is usually carried over to the outer political space where, unforuantely, even the women are not able to extricate themselves from the limiting mindset.
“Even the women, unconsciously, are limited by their own thinking. Women accept the stereotyping. It is believed that there are certain professions that are exclusive preserve of the male”, she noted with regret, adding that women are usually interpreted along their care giving roles.
She urged the government to be at the vanguard of promoting and enforcing women inclusion and development agenda while calling on the men folk not to see women issues as an affront to their masculinity but to understand that they seek only to be partners and not a change of positions.
“They need to understand that what the women are actually asking for is partnership. Women don’t want to take over. Women just want to partner with men”, she explained.
“There is really nothing to take over. All that we want is carry us along”, she emphasised, stressing that “The real essence of equality is not equality in terms of status, position and prestige. We want equality in terms of opportunities and outcome”.

Opaka Dokubo