Community Need Care Development Initiative (CONCED) has kicked off a ‘Women Voice on Leadership’ programme with a view to increasing the chances of women getting voted into public offices in Kwara State, Nigeria.
CONCED is executing this task in partnership with Canada Global Affairs and the Global All For Women And Children Foundation.
Available data shows that the overall political representation of women in government in Nigeria is less than seven percent.
Chief Executive Officer of CONCED, Magret Tinuke Erinle, told newsmen at the launch of the programme in Illorin that women in politics from three local governments were selected to receive the support they need to run for office in 2023, regardless of their political parties.
‘I do not care about any political party you come from, my interest is that women must talk, women must lead, women must be in positions of authority’, Erinle said.
‘I monitored elections in the last general elections and I discovered that out of the 35 elective positions in Kwara State, there was no single woman elected.
‘So, that inspired me to start working on this’.
On why women were only selected from Illorin South, Illorin East, and Illorin West areas of the state, Erinle said, ‘The three selected local governments are the most powerful’.
She further said, ‘If women are in the positions of authority, they should be able to pursue their issues very well more than the men would do for them.
‘For instance, we are pushing for a law on women in the state assembly, but no single woman to bring the bill up.
‘I have four years to work on this project and get the desired result, so the earlier I start the better.
‘We will do the needful, interact with the stakeholders, and engage the media to achieve our aim.
‘By 2023 elections women in Kwara must be inspired enough to be elected into public office then, unlike in 2019’.
Chief Executive Officer of Global All for Women and Children Foundation, Christy Abayomi Oluwole, expressed concerns over the participation of women in politics, adding that political practices in Nigeria do not encourage women.
Source: Vanguard
Photo source: CONCED