Toun Okewale Sonaiya CEO Women Radio 91.7 giving goodwill message at a Women Political and Advocacy Summit organised by Office of Wife of the President, National Council for Women Societies and Women in Politics Forum on Thursday 30 August 2018

OKEWALE SONAIYA calls for prioritization of legislative and policy frameworks for a gender equality government.

Toun Okewale Sonaiya CEO Women Radio 91.7 made the charge while delivering a goodwiil message at a Women Political Aspirants and Advocacy Summit organized by Office of Wife of the President, National Council for Women Societies and Women in Politics Forum in Abuja on Thursday 30 August 2018.

She challenged political parties to prioritise legislative and policy Frameworks to achieve a gender equality government, calling for the creation of a fair and level playing field through affirmative action and quotas. She also charged her media counterparts to report women as women based on their achievements and not just as wives of somebody calling for the passage of the Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill and the domestication of affirmative action policy at political party level.

Okewale Sonaiya said Women Radio 91.7 was set up to amplify voices of Women and will continue to be deliberate and intentional in its vision of TheWomanAgenda. Our advocacy for increased women participation is value and capacity driven. We are not asking for our turn because we feel we are owed or to share the national cake. Our advocacy is based on a well researched notion that no country can progress by leaving half of its population behind. Nigeria cannot progress if it leaves her Women behind. Nigerian Women have what it takes to develop Nigeria at the highest level of decision-making.

In her keynote address, wife of the President, Dr. Mrs. Aisha Buhari charged women to aspire for political offices to effect the changes they want to see in society. Buhari said election of women is achievable because women make up the larger body of voters and women determine the fate of any election.

The President Muhammadu Buhari in hus remarks called on all political parties to create the needed enabling environment for women to have level playing field to contest elective positions.

Mufuliat Fijabi CEO Nigerian Women Trust Fund said as we move closer to the 2019 General Elections and with the political primaries on going, now is the time to focus, aim and collectively strategize and amplify the voices of women to ensure that more women move beyond aspirants and emerge as candidates. Fijabi said in the course of Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund field interventions, there is a growing momentum of a plan B by women that if the men fail to support female candidacy, they will not get votes free of charge from women until they publicly commit to the advancement of women’s political representation pegging at the 35 percent stipulated by the National Gender Policy.

Barrister Mary Eta, DG National Centre for Women Development called on women not to sell their votes as this keeps women out of positions of authority.

National President NCWS, Dr. Mrs. Gloria Shoda said until women participate fully and contribute their quotas in governance, there will, consistently, be a huge gap in governance.

The event was attended by the wife of the Vice President Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, wives of governors, IPAC chairman and women political aspirants.