Following the rejection of women bills by the Senate and House of Representatives on additional seats for women in the legislature, indigeneship rights for married women, citizenship by registration for non-Nigerian men married to Nigerian women, 35% affirmative action for women in political party administration and reserved quota for women in cabinet positions, Nigerian women led by Civil Society Organisations registered their displeasure by staging a protest at the National Assembly.
The protest which started on 2nd March 2022, a day after the voting on the Bills, came to a climax on International Women’s Day, 8th March 2022 where women showed up in their numbers with placards chanting different slogans such as ‘No women, no nation.’ Some female legislators, wives of State Governors and men attended the protest in solidarity.
Speaking at the protest ground on March 8, the First Lady of Ekiti State and Chairwoman, Nigeria Governor’s Wives Forum, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, called on the legislators in the National Assembly to recognise the demands of women who make up 50% of the Nigerian population and give them leadership positions. Senator Akon Eyakenyi (PDP: Akwa Ibom) equally stated that at least one seat in the National and State Houses of Assembly should be given to women irrespective of the political party, urging other States to emulate Akwa Ibom State which gave one senatorial seat to a woman out of three. Joining her voice, the First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, Mrs. Martha Emmanuel, reiterated that women are not second-class citizens but have all it takes to occupy any position in the country.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of Nigeria in the Diaspora Commission and one-time member of the House of Representatives who also showed up in solidarity, reflected on the dwindling number of female legislators. She said, “I was in the National Assembly for 12 years. When I was there, we were 27. Today, the women parliamentarians are less than that number. The same thing with the Senate. The question is, who is afraid of the Nigerian woman?.” The First Lady of Edo State, Betsy Obaseki, equally called on Nigerian women across board to unite and form a strong front against marginalisation.
Distancing himself from the men who voted against the Bills, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (APC: Ekiti) stated that all the legislators in Ekiti in the National Assembly voted in support of the women bills. In his words, “Any man that is a husband of a wife, father of a daughter, will agree that the request of women is within their right, it is a progressive one.” He further assured the women that those of them who supported the Bills will continue to speak with their colleagues to reconsider their position on the Bills.
Senator Betty Apiafi (PDP: Rivers and Chairman Women Affairs, Senate), promised to demand and publicise the names of the men who voted against the Bill. She also appealed for representatives of the women groups to meet with the leadership of the National Assembly to negotiate positions on the Bills but this was rejected by the protesting women. In response, Ene Obi, Country Director of Action Aid Nigeria, registered the women’s displeasure with the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who they had demanded, should come out to address the protesting women but had failed to do so.
Following from the protests, the House of Representatives on 8th March 2022 decided to rescind their decision on three of the bills they had earlier rejected in an apparent attempt to pacify women on International Women’s Day. The Bills are on citizenship by registration for non-Nigerian men married to Nigerian women, indigeneship rights for married women and affirmative action for women in appointive positions.
