As kids we all have dreams and ambitions. Some want to be doctors, some lawyers, and others politicians. We are taught irrespective of our gender that we can achieve anything we want, however the reality of things is that in some fields, women dominate and in other fields men dominate. When it comes to politics and leadership roles men are the ones that dominate the field in most countries. Institutional as well as cultural, economic, and societal factors limit women’s opportunities and ability to participate in decision making.
Due to the low participation of women in politics is therefore an indicator of gender inequality. It is one of the SDG goals to have gender equality, which means that there needs to be a substantial percentage of women in parliament, senate, house of reps and so on in order to encourage women empowerment.
The question is why are women underrepresented in governance? The simple answer is that although we live in a progressive society, women are still considered as second class citizens, especially in third world countries like Nigeria. It is still very much in the Nigerian culture for the man to be seen as the leader of society and the head of the family. It is hard for such a society to let women take up leadership roles and decision making roles. Women are seen as the caregivers and fragile. Women are also perceived as weak and not strong enough to carry a society.
Despite all the perceptions of women in the society, women are more than capable of taking up leadership roles and being involved in governance. They say once you educate a woman you educate her whole community, which shows the power of a woman. When it comes to governance women are just as capable of leading as men are. The solution is for society to become more progressive. We need to continuously educate ourselves, learn and unlearn different ideologies. In time we might see some progress but it will definitely take some time and fighting for us to see true equality in all aspects of society.
