Kadaria Ahmed: Marginalisation Of North-West Nigeria Women In Politics Tied To Region’s Underdevelopment

Nigerian journalist Kadaria Ahmed has said that there is a direct correlation between the underdevelopment of the North-Western region of Nigeria and the fact that the women in this region are marginalised and not allowed to fully participate in politics.

Ahmed said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday after she spoke against President Tinubu’s marginalisation of North-Western women in the North West Development Commission after the President appointed the governing board for the commission, none of which was female.

She said, “We think there’s actually a direct correlation between how badly we’re doing and the fact that the North-West continues to marginalise women, because we’ve seen places where women are included begin to do better.”

Ahmed stressed the significance of women’s participation in public life, particularly in a region facing severe socio-economic challenges, terrorism, and insecurity as she said, “There is a direct correlation between the failure to allow women fully participate in public life- whether it is through appointments, whether it is through elections, whether it is education, etcetera- and the fact that the region is lagging behind. And we don’t understand why policy makers who, after all, say this particular body is set up to look at development, how can you do development when the people who are directly impacted are not part of the decision making?”

Ahmed also pointed out that many women are qualified to contribute to the commission’s goals, particularly in areas like budgeting, public health, conflict resolution, and economic development. She then questioned the qualifications of the current appointees, saying, “Even when you look at the people who are actually part of the ward, I am going to be so bold as to say, if I’m being generous, maybe three of them qualify to sit on that board. When you are overseeing a region that has the sort of problems that we have, there are certain skills and experiences that are necessary.

“You need people who understand budgeting, you need people who understand the economy, you need people who understand climate and how to mitigate it, you need people who understand conflict and conflict resolution. You need people who are experts in public health etcetera. Go check out the CV of the people who were appointed, they are not qualified, and this is side by side with actually having women who are very qualified that could actually do these jobs, and who actually, when you look at NGOs that are working on the ground, that are actually making the little differences that you see, most of the time, it is women who are doing this work.”

She then said, “It’s either President Ahmed Tinubu and his government don’t rate North-Western women at all, or they don’t have knowledge around essentially why women participation is critical, or they know all these things but political expediency- means that they’re willing to sacrifice development itself on the altar of party politics, that’s the only conclusion we can reach. Because the research is absolutely clear. If you want development, particularly in an area which is rife in conflict such as the North West where we have terrorists, bandits running rampage and generally making life insecure, and where women and children are the predominant victims of these crimes, then you have to have women sit at the table where decisions are being taken about the things that affect their lives.”

She also mentioned that research had shown that putting women in policy making positions, the effectiveness and accountability in public service increases.

“There’s more research that actually shows you get up to 35% more chances of success if women are part of peace and conflict resolution. On that basis alone, you know, women deserve to be part of the North West Development Commission, but even outside of these things, there is something called fairness. We are 50% of the population, we go out, we vote, we participate every time we are called upon to participate, and yet, when it comes to saying to us okay, come and have a bit of a voice, sit at the table while we decide what happens to your life, we get this sort of lopsided appointments. It’s completely disappointing,” she explained.

Concluding on a strong note, Ahmed then spoke directly to Tinubu saying, “President Tinubu, elections are coming in 2027, we will be asking questions as North-Western women about what you did for us in this last four years, and whether you were able to turn our lives around for the better. We are going to start organising and we are going to only reward people who will look after us, or who have looked after us in government, it’s really that simple.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi

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