For Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, running for a second term as an MP in Nigeria means putting her life in danger, says the 56-year-old woman who is running in the February 25 legislative elections in the south-west of the country. On the same day, Nigerians will also elect their senators and their next president – Muhmmadu Buhari stepping down after two terms, as provided for in the Constitution. On March 11, they will choose their governors and the deputies of the local assemblies.
In 2019, during the last elections, Ms. Akande-Sadipe's campaign bus was destroyed and her press officers attacked. For this election, she says she narrowly escaped an attack while campaigning against five men for her party's primaries. In Nigeria, "electoral violence is very real and it targets me more because I am a woman," the MP from Oyo state told AFP. According to her, her opponents "think they can intimidate her" because she is a woman.
Africa’s most populous country, the continent’s largest economy, has many women in leadership positions in the private sector and on the international stage. But when it comes to elective functions, they are underrepresented and very often sidelined. In the current lower house, 13 women sit among the 360 MPs, placing Nigeria 184th out of 190 countries in the world, according to a ranking by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), based in Geneva. And the situation doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Only one presidential candidate
The number of women contesting the 2023 elections has declined at almost all levels: women are contesting only 10% of seats in local assemblies, 9% of seats in the National Assembly, 8% of seats in the Senate and 6 % of governorships. Only one woman, Princess Chichi Ojei, is a presidential candidate on February 25, against 17 men. And she is far from among the favorites Bola Tinubu, from the ruling party (APC), Atiku Abubakar, from the main opposition party (PDP), and outsider Peter Obi, from the Labor Party (LP).
And yet, women played a major role in the political construction of Nigeria, mobilizing against colonial power and then during military dictatorships, according to Chiedo Nwankwor, professor at the American Johns-Hopkins University. But "once these movements succeeded, women were pushed aside." The conservative cultural and religious system does not help women to assert themselves in the political landscape, according to Mercy Ette, a Nigerian researcher at the University of Leeds, who has studied female representation in the country. “Even among highly educated people, patriarchy is very strong,” added MP Akande-Sadipe.
The obstacles are immense, but that does not prevent Khadijah Abdullahi Iya from wanting to become the next governor of the State of Niger (center), plagued by violence from criminal groups. A position that no woman has ever held in the 36 states that make up the federal republic. But according to the 48-year-old woman, "mentalities are changing" because "people are at a breaking point and they feel that women have the necessary compassion, that they can heal their ailments". Insecurity is a crucial issue in the 2023 elections, with the country plagued by violence from jihadists, criminals and separatists.
"Laying a foundation for the future"
The financing of electoral campaigns is one of the obstacles for female candidates. "Women often don't have the money to get started and very few men are willing to invest in their campaign," Ette said. Last year, the male-dominated parliament rejected five bills aimed at advancing gender equality and women's representation.
"There is very little political will to change the status quo," Ibijoke Faborode, who runs ElectHer, a platform that supports young candidates, told AFP. However, she believes that "something has changed" with the "EndSARS" protest movement against police violence, which broke out at the end of 2020 before being suppressed. Among the main leaders were charismatic young women (lawyers, journalists, etc.) grouped in a "Feminist Coalition". None is a candidate, but their commitment has fueled the hopes of many others.
Like Juliet Isi Ikhayere, a 28-year-old lawyer running for MP. At an event last month, she was called a "toddler" by a man in the crowd. The last of the derogatory remarks she suffered throughout her campaign. But while "the challenges are many" and "if not for now," she says, "it's mostly about laying foundations for the future."
