NGO wants Buhari to give 50% appointments to women

A Non Governmental Organisation, Change Managers International Network, has called on President Muhammad Buhari to give women 50% of available leadership positions as he begins his second term.

The Network made the call in a public interest dialogue, held in Abuja, in partnership with the 100 women lobby group.

The focus of the dialogue was to discuss the “troubling trend” of the exclusion of women from political governance in Nigeria.

In her speech, Felicia Oniban, the President and CEO of the network, spoke on the disparity between the number of women and that of men in leadership positions in the country, emphasizing the need for more women to be included in the Nigerian governance structure.

Oniban further stated that the notion that there were no capable women to run these positions should be dropped as women have, over time, proven their worth in previously held positions in the Nigerian government.

She said “we have heard statements from some men that there are no competent women to hold such positions in the parliament, but we want to take this opportunity to let the general public know that there are competent women within the national assembly, women who have done great thing in their endeavours and therefore such statements should be withdrawn”.

Also speaking, Nkoyo Toyo, a former Nigerian ambassador to Ethiopia, who expressed concerns over the marginalisation of women in the Nigerian political structure, urged the president to look into the implementation of laws that support this cause.