Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Engr Noimot Salako -Oyedele, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Senator Uche Ekwunife and the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, have decried declining women’s representation in Nigeria’s political offices, more than 30 years after the Beijing declaration.

The Beijing Declaration was a resolution adopted by the UN at the end of the Fourth World Conference on Women on 15 September 1995.

The resolution adopted to promulgate a set of principles concerning the equality of men and women.

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Thirty years after the declaration, some prominent Nigerian women and political office holders reviewed progress made so far at the HID Awolowo Foundation Dialogue held on Tuesday at the residence of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo in Ikenne, Ogun State.

The dialogue under the theme “Breaking Barriers or standing still? Nigeria Women in Politics 30 years after Beijing,” was also held in commemoration of the 110th posthumous birthday of Chief Mrs Hannah Idowu Awolowo, wife of Awolowo.

In her welcome address, the Convener, HID Awolowo Foundation, Dr Tokunbo Awolowo Dosumu expressed worry over “depressing statistics about women in leadership across sectors in Nigeria.”

She, however, applauded women both past and present who dared to lead in political space despite constraints.

“From political exclusion and structural barriers to the weight of cultural expectations, you have stood firm often at a great personal cost, to keep the flame of participation alive.

“You’re the true bridge builders, and your courage lights the path for those coming after you,” Awolowo-Dosumu said.

The Chairman of the Foundation, Senator Daisy Danjuma, stated that no country could survive without carrying women along in the decision-making and policy-making process.

She called on Nigerian women to wake up and join forces to support women in politics.

“A country cannot survive well, for every country that has survived and every country that is doing very well today, they have maybe 50-60% women, Nigeria has at least 40-30% percent women,” Danjuma said.

The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hon. Hannatu Musa Musawa in her presentation, Advocacy: “Power in numbers: The role of women’s movements, civil society organisations and alliance” urged women to move in numbers, adding that when they move together they can move mountains.

Musawa advocated for collective effort, thereby calling for a movement’s win when everyone plays their role.

“As we look 30 years beyond Beijing, let us recommit to the true essence of power in numbers: Not symbolic unity. Not unity for photos.

“But unity that is strategic, active, and sustained. Because when Nigerian women gather, movements rise. When we rise, barriers fall,” she said.

In her keynote address, Professor Olabisi Aina, the Executive Director of gender, Women, & children in Sustainable Development, said Nigeria ranks lowest in Africa in terms of women’s representation.

She posited that Nigeria, as a country, has policies that support enhanced women’s representation in the political office and called for the political will to implement them.

On her part, Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, expressed worry that 30 years after the Beijing declaration, Nigerian women were still navigating old hurdles in new forms

Senator Uche Ekwunife lamented that despite that Nigeria signed the Beijing declaration, the results are “sobering”, 30 years after.

According to her, women still hold less than 10% of elective offices; under 5% of seats in the Senate are occupied by women; only around 8% in the House of Representatives and across 36 states, only four deputy governors are women.

“During a parliamentary debate on electoral reform, a male colleague shouted: “Women should stay at home, not in the chambers!” I stood up and replied calmly:

“Our home is wherever we choose to be.

“Today, my home is here shaping the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she said.

In a communiqué issued after the event,
the dialogue concluded that Nigeria’s future depends on inclusive, intersectional, intergenerational, and female-friendly politics. “Nigeria will rise when Nigerian women truly rise,” the communiqué stated.

The HID Awolowo Foundation called on political parties, civil society, and the private sector to recommit to ensuring that Nigerian women reclaim their agency and reimagine a more inclusive and equitable political future.