In a significant step towards amplifying the voices of women in politics, a new documentary that shines a spotlight on the triumphs, challenges, and resilience of women shaping Nigeria’s political landscape was premiered last Monday in Abuja. The documentary chronicles the journey of nine Nigerian female political candidates who ran for elective office in the 2023 election cycle, breaking barriers in a male-dominated arena. It was produced by Kadaria Ahmed’s Daria media and explores the complexities of being a Nigerian woman in politics and celebrates the achievements of these trailblazers through storytelling and interviews.
Trust Kadaria, the quality of the photography and the production was very high and the women profiled displayed zeal, determination and commitment in finding the purposeful pathways that led them to the terrain of party politics.
The nine exceptional women profiled are Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Ireti Kingibe, Nnenna Elendu–Ukeje, Adeola Azeez, Simi Olusola, Hauwa Gambo, Khadijah Iya, Munira Tanimu and Joyce Daniels. Double Minority gives us the opportunity to hear directly from them and learn about the systemic obstacles – cultural bias, demeaning insults, targeted violence and limited funding they confronted for daring to aspire to hold political office and lead in today’s Nigeria. Each and every one of them narrated an epic story that paints the mural of the struggle of women in Nigeria. We are grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for providing the resources to produce this important documentary.
The veteran female politician Hon. Nnenna Elendu–Ukeje, who has contested in five elections and won three of them, posed a concluding question that shook the entire audience. “Should I continue to seek to represent people whom I am no longer representative of?” For context, she was referring to her own commitment in politics as an opportunity for public service amid the new culture of politics in which convicted and not yet convicted criminals have invaded the political arena and are significantly transforming it in their own image. They are actors who see politics as just another opportunity to continue their accumulation by using their acquired skills from the criminal underworld. The overwhelming response from the audience was that no-one should ever consider the exit option precisely because criminal politicians have been invading the arena and people with values of integrity and public service are being “chased out”. The arena is difficult and the risks are high but our collective resolve should be to chase out the criminals and bandits invading the political arena rather than leave the stage for them.
The overriding problematic addressed by the documentary is that since 1999, the representation of women in elective and appointive office has been shrinking rather than growing. The concern is that advocacy for improved gender representation has been assaulted with increased determination to exclude women. Nigeria currently ranks 178 out of 182 countries in terms of women’s participation in governance. This is a shameful position to be in and we simply have to do better. In his address at the event, Dr. Kole Shettima, Director of the MacArthur Foundation drew attention to the fact that women are not a numerical minority in Nigeria, and that indeed during elections, women constitute a majority of voters BUT there has been successful political manoeuvring that consistently turns women into political minorities. The risk is real, he said, that the success of gatekeeping that keeps women out would soon produce a situation in which only men will represent Nigerian women in national policy making and international diplomacy in spite of the abundance of very capable high-quality women in the country. He called for urgent action beginning with support for House Bill 1349, a piece of legislation aimed at expanding political opportunities for women in Nigeria. He did not mince words: it is time for less talk and more structural change. We must organize, advocate, and put pressure where it matters.
A number of key themes underlined the experiences of the nine women profiled:
The first is being assaulted for disrespecting their culture and religion. All elements of both that speak of the value and imperative of equality are thrown out and patriarchal, anti-women renditions that confine women to the kitchen and childcare are thrown at them challenging the very legitimacy of their seeking positions of power. It gets worse. Every single woman featured in the documentary was called a prostitute at some point during her campaign, for simply aspiring to public office. This deeply destabilising use of negative labelling has broken many a woman that has sought public office. Once a negative label has been successfully imposed on a candidate, it is easy to heap psychological pressure to break the labelled person because their legitimacy has been eroded. The fact that all nine women remained in the struggle and maintained their dignity is a testimony to their strength of character. They were not crushed by the labelling they endured as being culturally deviant. They maintained their inherent rights to be assertive and seek leadership roles.
This is in spite of the fact that their situations were not helped by the way men organise political meetings at night so that they could criticise women who attend for lack of moral rectitude in their behaviour. The arguments thrown at the women hit hard at whatever the marital situation of the women is. For those who were unmarried, the argument is that they do not even have the experience of maintaining a home so they should not be trusted with power. For those who are married, the argument is turned on its head as they are accused of abandoning their homes, spouses and children in a selfish search for power and self-aggrandisement. All the women suffered greatly from these destructive forms of negative labelling.
The women were also affected by the political economy of elections in Nigeria. Our electoral processes, the search for nominations and campaigning, have been completely monetised and most women who seek political office find out that they could easily be outspent by the men contesting against them. In addition, women have much more difficulty than men in raising funds from funders or political godfathers and risk being called prostitutes if they try. Nigeria has found very effective ways of attacking and destabilising the moral and ethical standing of every women that seeks political office. I salute the husbands of some of these women who strongly supported their wives in their quest for political office in these difficult circumstances. The guilty men should be ashamed for behaving in such despicable ways to our mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, nieces and fellow human beings.
I am grateful to Daria Media for producing Double Minority, an important film that reminds us about how we are mistreating and marginalising half of our society. If we want progress in our communities and society at large, we need to do better. I commend the nine heroes profiled in the film for their strong character, courage and determination to improve Nigeria. We must open more doors.
