Political Scientist advocates pairing of women as running mates
NAN-H-100
Women
Abuja Jan.24, 2017 (NAN) A political scientist, Dr Plangsat Dayil of the Department of Political Science, University of Jos on Tuesday advocated the pairing of male and female candidacy in governorship and presidential elections.
Dayil stated this while presenting a paper on “Gender, Electoral Integrity and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria’’ at the National Political Summit in Abuja.
She said that political pairing was the major answer to gender equality in Nigeria.
According to her, the measure will also encourage women participation in politics through “men’s deliberate” action to pick them as running mates.
“The pairing system will further strengthen democratic consolidation which is an embodiment of longevity of a civilian regime through respect for democratic institutions, credible elections and the existence of equity in support of disadvantaged members.
“It equally entails strengthening the voice of women in democracy; this is because social exclusion limits the extent to which a country develops the underlying start-society relationship necessary for democracy to work.
“Although Nigeria is gradually growing to trust the electoral systems to produce credible candidates through free and fair elections, numerous challenges still abound,’’ she said.
Dayil listed the challenges to include the existence of a cohort of dissatisfied political party elites, ethnic diversity and absence of deliberate mechanism promoting meaningful engagement of youths in the electoral process.
She said the ever shrinking presence of women in partisan politics, the growing Boko Haram conflict and crisis of the Niger Delta, signal a bleeding system that needed urgent collective interventions .
She , however , suggested that continued and effective use of quotas should be imbibed to increase women’s political participation and support for women’s leadership as part of measures to promote their participation.
She said holding elected officials to account for commitments to gender equality by ensuring they understand their obligation would advance gender fairness.
Dayil added that investing in political apprenticeship and mentorship for women in civil society, political parties, and providing increased support and financing for women’s organisations would enable them build practical consciousness.
She said this would also help in developing practical organising skills and build up grassroots constituencies.
Dayil said that strengthening capacity building support for elected women would empower them to have more impact on decision making processes.
She said it was also crucial to work with men and women in all related areas, including politics to shift attitudes and perceptions thereby working towards greater gender equality.
She urged Nigerians to challenge gender stereotypes and work on creating a culture of zero tolerance for both direct and indirect gender bias within political parties and the wider political culture.
She added that this would ensure that women politicians who faced harassment and violence have access to justice.
“There is need to work on strengthening the overall accountability of democratic institutions to promote transparency and accountability of public officials and institutions on their gender equality commitments.
“The mainstream media and new media should also ensure that women are represented more fairly by shaping public debate about women and democracy. ‘’ she said
Dayil said that strengthening democratic institutions like INEC, Political Parties and the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) would go far toward bridging the current gap between the Nigerian people and those who rule them.
This, she said , would open the door to redressing the consequences of generations of bad government and lack of development and build confidence in Nigeria’s democracy.(NAN)
ATAB/DO/EAL
Edited by David Onilede/Ekemini Ladejobi
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