NDI holds consultative meeting on women’s political participation in Kano

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) Wednesday held a consultative roundtable meeting on promoting women political participation in Nigeria with stakeholders in Kano state.

The meeting was part of preparations for the implementation of NDI’s 2-year Women in Politics (WiP) projectin Kano which seeks to support elected women legislators to become more effective and serve as role models for other women.  The project is scheduled to commence this September and is being funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Women in Nigeria currently make up only 5 to 6 percent of the legislators in the National Assembly and 6 percent of the membership of the state houses of assembly, with 11 state houses having zero female representation.

Speaking at the consultative meeting, Raymond Sebagbon, deputy country director of NDI Nigeria said WiP was aimed at changing the mindset of people who had misgivings about women’s role in the society.

“We want to change the mindset of people who have misgivings about the role of women in the society. Globally and in Nigeria, we have witnessed numerous accomplishments of women who were opportuned to be in leadership positions,” Sebagbon said. “The men should not feel threatened; the women are not saying they want to take over the men’s position, based on the interactions we have had with women so far,  it shows clearly they want to remain responsible wives and leaders in the society.”

The WiP project is been implemented at both the federal and states level in Lagos, Kaduna, Jigawa,Enugu, Anambra Adamawa and now Kano, which was included as part of the project’s 2-year extension.