WOMEN’S (FEMALE GENDER) POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Plateau State and Nigeria at large has been recording low participation of women in both elective and appointive positions. This is a growing concern to many Nigerians.  However,  concerted  efforts  have been made by government  and non -governmental organizations  to  increase  the level of participation  of women in politics  in line with the  declaration  made at the fourth  World  Conference  on  women  in  Beijing,  which  advocated  30% affirmative  action.  In  Nigeria,  the extant National  Gender  Policy  (NGP)  recommended  35%  affirmative  action  instead  and  sought  for  a  more  inclusive representation  of  women  with  at  least  35%  of  both  elective  political  and  appointive  public  service  positions respectively. The under representation of women in political participation gained root due to the patriarchal practice inherent in our society, much of which were obvious from pre-colonial era till date. However, the re-introduction of democratic governance has witnessed once again an increase in women political participation both in elective and appointive offices. The national average  of women’s  political participation  in Nigeria has remained  below 7 percent in elective and appointive positions,  which is far below the global average of 22.5 percent, Africa regional average of  23.4  percent  and  West  African  sub  regional  average  of 15  percent. In Plateau State in particular, there has never been a female governor but the state has had two female deputy governors in 2007 and 2023 respectively. In the state assembly, women representation has never been above 8%. In 2015, the state had 2 female legislators representing 8%, 1 female legislator representing 4% in 2019 and none in 2023. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended among others that the Plateau State government through the Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission should make and implement a policy on Inclusive Equal Gender Leadership at the Local Government Councils that will empower women politically. This will ensure that every candidate for Chairmanship position chooses another gender as a running mate. This will empower women to participate in politics and contribute meaningfully to the development of the State.