Group expresses concern over women parity in leadership

Forum 10 months ago

Group expresses concern over women parity in leadership

A non-government organization HEIR Women Hub has expressed concern over the parity of young women entrusted with leadership authority in Nigeria, regardless of the reserved positions for women.

The Hub also expressed the need for women to strive for leadership positions while noting the barriers and challenges associated with seeking leadership positions.

Speaking at a virtual session of HEIR Women Hub peer-peer review, Executive Director, Anuli Ola-Olaniyi noted; “I am assuming optimistic, but I still sense a real gap between young women occupied leadership positions. Even if there’s an appointed position that covers women, I still strongly believe that they are still not enough of young women who have been entrusted with such leadership authority.

“It just showed the need and the drive for you to want to occupy leadership positions, which are mainly the reasons for this particular project, and to actually, alongside you, see the amount of barriers and challenges that is actually real-time on ground.

“As the 10th assembly has been constituted you will notice that we still have an abysmal numbers of women representation and in leadership, some people have hoped that the current president is going to give a lot more leadership positions in his ministerial cabinet. We do not know how the gender parity will look like?

Ola-Olaniyi while recounting experiences of one of their visits to some communities, stated that they were welcomed to speak to the young women and some men in some instances, however, driven away from the stalls in some instances which obviously reflected on the understanding of women leadership across the nation, and globally.

While remarking further the Director pointed out that the behavior and attitudes of some people will take time to be transformed, but at least understood the need to begin to enhance the leadership capacity in the country.

She further observed that Women Hub exists to ensure that the capacity and the gaps women experience in development and in becoming leadership experts, needed to be covered finitely.

In her remarks Project Officer Blessing Ejeh, elucidated on the Implementation Strategy of Promoting the National Ethics and Integrity policy aimed at enhancing the values and integrity as well as corruption in the society which was launched by the former President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on September 28, 2020, organised by Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, National Orientation Agency and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Ejeh pointed out that “The ethics and integrity policy as an idea the ICPC, NOA and SGF is encapsulated in 7 fundamental principles.

She said “Human dignity must be respected and never violated. Because we all have our self-esteem, which should always be respected as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, the Principle of patriotism which refers to love for one’s nation, willingness to defend our nation’s essence of nationhood, loyalty, solidarity, national pride of belonging, respect, tolerance, and dedication, principle of personal responsibility it is sense of duty to help provide solution within a group.

Continuing she stated “The principle of integrity is to act in inconsistent with established standards, principles and expectation and values, and the principle of national unity, the principle of professionalism.

While adding that the ICPC, NOA, and HEIR Women Hub cannot do the job effectively without the cooperation of the people in the implementation of the policy, she called for collaboration with HEIR Women Hub, and the agencies in ensuring that it is implemented.