Lekan Olayiwola
A society where the chance to advance in the public domain is gendered cannot be considered a peace-building one. Encouraging women in politics, therefore, can be a potent way to build a more peaceful nation. Not in the sense that women do not have their weaknesses, but as a way to promote gender inclusion and reduce gender-based violence in a heavily skewed patriarchal political system. The sexual harassment allegation levelled against Senate President Godswill Akpabio by embattled senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan dealt a blow to women’s potential as peace builders in the public domain.
Despite a commitment in principle to increase women’s participation in politics to about 30% in the Nigerian political space, the number of female political office holders in the country has continued to dwindle. In the current dispensation, only 3% of political office holders are women. Specifically, in the red chamber where Natasha is fighting to save her life, there are only three female senators. If her traducers succeed in recalling her to Kogi state, the rank of female senators will thin out to two. Beyond the numbers and noise, however, it is the opportunities for women to be peace builders that have come under fire.
Despite the imposition of a curfew by the Kogi state government to stop her homecoming, the rousing welcome given to Senator Uduaghan by a large number of members (mostly women and youth) of her constituency is a testament that she wields considerable influence among her people. If her recall or removal from the senate succeeds, the implication is at least two-fold: firstly, the allegation of sexual harassment, while hard to prove in many such instances, further buttresses the prevalence of gender-based violence in a patriarchal society like Nigeria. Secondly, and more poignantly is that it reinforces the limited opportunities for women’s active and meaningful involvement in politics.
Without going into the merit of the particular case between Senator Natasha and the Senate president, Akpabio, gender-based violence presents a complex bundle of problems based largely on people’s perception of gender norms and gender roles within the context of expectations in the household, work place, social class, religious settings and the political domain. In a recent study conducted by this author, the respondents did not regard the home, workplace, and community openly as gendered spaces. However, the socio-cultural structure of Nigerian society manifests evidence of gender inequality in these places.
Women were expected to be physically weak, submissive, less ambitious, earn less and be more polite. As such, they were supposed to be less likely to be the aggressor during conflict but rather suffered mainly as the victims. The superior socio-economic position of most men as well as the age difference between men and women were strong factors in the power relationship that made women vulnerable to men. These realities have been reflected in the various arguments for and against Senator Natasha. While some cited her insubordination as a woman (a wife whose husband seems unable to control at home), others decried her rude behaviour based on the age gap between her and Akpabio.
The altercation between Senator Nwaebonyi and the former minister of education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili at the senate ethics and privileges committee hearing in which the senator said that Ezekwesili was a “disgrace to womanhood” highlighted a gendered expectation about the conduct of women in a society dominated by men. Women were not supposed to raise their voices when speaking to men much less ask them to “shut up!” But if a man were to tell a woman to shut up, such behaviour would probably not have been considered unbecoming of a man, even if unacceptable.
The critical question to ask is whether expectations about gender norms or roles block off opportunities for women to participate in politics as a way to make the public domain less gendered and therefore more peaceful. This author’s research found that although women were expected to be natural (or at least act as) peacemakers, the home and the religious domains were believed to be where women could best function as peacebuilders rather than in the economic or political arena. Women were not really expected to build peace through engagement in economic activities or political participation. In reality, however, it is the economic and political domains that have a direct impact on how more peaceful or less peaceful a nation can be. They are the spheres of influence that shape the power relations between women and men and therefore constitute both the real triggers for gender-based violence or durable peace-building.
In a patriarchal/hierarchically structured society where socioeconomic and political status determines the allocation of resources, relegating women to the home and religious institutions certainly limits opportunities for women’s contribution to peacebuilding before, during or after conflicts. Unfortunately, the various feminist movements and the argument of the United Nations Resolution 1325 (the Women, Peace and Security Agenda) for gender equality are not yet formidable enough to challenge let alone change the status quo. While Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan continues to pursue legal redress against Senate President Godswill Akpabio in the court of law, the court of public opinion must continue to fight to mainstream gender parity.
Gender equality does not necessarily mean that men and women, boys and girls have the same and equal role to play in every domain of life, be it private or public. The salient point is about creating safe spaces for all genders to come to work, live and play. You need power to do that. The power relations between women and men ought to improve significantly to create such “safe spaces” where a woman who at length makes it to the pinnacle of the political or economic totem pole is not made to feel swamped or uncomfortable in the discharge of her duties or pursuit of her legitimate ambitions for herself and on behalf of her people. Too many of the very few women who rose to the top in Nigeria (both in private and public sectors) have been guilt-tripped and gaslighted in a very unfair manner.
The author’s research showed that the challenge with tackling the problem is the misconception that gender inequality and gender-based violence are rooted in the home and that reversal must take place there. The other prevailing view is that schools and religious institutions offer better opportunities for dealing with gender inequality rather than political institutions. But I would argue that women participating in the task of building a more peaceful society cannot be relegated to households, schools and religious centres alone. The real power centres that shape what households, schools and religious places can do or not do are the political and economic domains. Keeping women out of these twin critical centres of gravity may appear practical in the short to medium term, but neutralizes their immense contribution in the long run.
While the situation in Africa is much the same, a country like Ghana in the West African sub-region, for example, is making considerable progress in dis-gendering its political space. In the last election, the country was able for the first time to elect 40 (representing 14.5%) women into its parliament. There is an old saying, as Nigeria goes, so goes Ghana and vice versa; the big question is will Nigeria emulate their old rival any time soon as far as raising women’s participation in power politics is concerned? We have to make the effort in order to build a more sustainable, peaceful and equitable society.
