Professor Oluremi Comfort Sonaiya is an academic-turned-politician. In 2015, she emerged as the only female Presidential standard bearer on the ballot, contesting on the platform of the KOWA Party (KP), which was registered by academics, rights activists and public intellectuals. In this interview with LEO SOBECHI, the former presidential candidate, says the fortunes of women in the political space have dwindled greatly.
This year’s International Women’s Day has come and gone. From your perspective, what do you think are the major takeaways?
The theme for this year is Accelerate Action. And I think that is my major takeaway: that action needs to be accelerated.
In too many places and instances, we have been talking about the same things for years, over and over and over again. For instance, things like women’s inclusion in leadership and political positions, the treatment of women and girls in terms of several cultural practices and so on.
But just as we talk about these things, no tangible progress has been made regarding the actions taken and the improvements in the conditions of women and girls. So, what I would like to underscore is that measurable and specific actions must be taken so that next year, we won’t be talking about the same things again.
At least, if we talk about them, we can point to the progress that has been made within the past one year.
The issue of inclusivity has been a recurring concern in this conversation. But have women been able to marshal their demands in specific items, as in Rwanda, where the norm is to reserve several legislative seats for women in the National Assembly.
Women have always done that. There are lists of demands or concerns. Yes, you can demand from today to forever, and nothing might still be done.
I think women have been good at articulating their concerns. I believe that the environment is needed that would allow women to participate fully and maybe thrive in, let’s say, our politics. Sadly, that environment is not being deliberately created.
When politics – and you see what’s happening in Rivers State and what has happened in Edo and so on – I think it’s not very encouraging for many women who don’t have the heart for this kind of fighting and violence.
We saw what happened with the Lagos State House of Assembly. How did it end? The woman just resigned, and she said well, that’s what the party said. After somebody had been removed through impeachment with many allegations against him, he was unanimously removed, and the deputy was brought in. But what happened then?
The party bigwigs got together and re-imposed him. So, what is this kind of politics that seems to have no rules, no laws, but everything is as determined by those who feel that they own the party and they can order everybody around as they please.
I am saying that this kind of environment does not encourage many women to participate in politics. And even for those who are participating, it still continues to discourage them and put stumbling blocks in their way as long as some people believe that they have the absolute right over what happens.
Just think about it. Why is it that women are thriving in the professional sector? Some doctors, even professors and vice chancellors in the university. Why is it that Nigerian women are thriving in the public sector? You have several of them as CEOs of companies and so on.
Even around the world, why are Nigerian women being elected or appointed into positions of leadership? Why do we have Amina Mohammed at the UN and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the World Trade Organisation? Andeven Kemi Badenoch, as the head of the opposition party in the UK? Maybe Kemi Badenoch might say she is not really a Nigerian woman, but she identifies herself with Nigeria.
So, it is like that when the playground is level, and when it depends on merit, and not all these wrangling and fixing things in the background. When everybody plays according to the same rules and the game is clean, Nigerian women will thrive. They will come up.
So, all these, let them present their case, their list, who has the right to receive any list from them? Does anybody have more rights in this country than they do? Those are the fundamental issues I think we have not dealt with as a country.
Are all citizens equal? Do all citizens have equal rights in this country called Nigeria? Or do some Nigerians have more rights than others? Those are the issues, I believe, that we need to consider and resolve as a country.
Will you say that considering what you have seen, instead of improving, the fortunes of women’s inclusivity in Nigeria are deteriorating?
Yes. At least, in the political sector, because you know that we moved from how many women in the Senate, like seven or eight women in the ninth Assembly to four. So, that is an obvious reduction because this was at a time when people were hoping that more women would get into the National Assembly. So, in terms of political inclusion, we are not doing well at all.
Politics is always described as a game of numbers, and statistics have shown that population-wise, women compare favourably with men in Nigeria, though the census figures are debatable. Will you say that women have been mobilised effectively enough to identify with fellow women during electoral competition?
This issue keeps coming and I think we should rest it once and for all. People keep saying, ‘eh but you women, you don’t vote for one another’. It’s a more systemic issue than just saying, ‘this one is a woman, therefore, I will vote for her’. You might say that. It should probably come to that.
But the thing is, there is a whole system that has been set up which is not inclusive. Starting with the practices in the political parties, how many women can afford the kind of money that parties charge, for instance, to buy forms?
How many? You know that the earning power of women, in general, is much lower than that of men. Yes, some parties might say, we are willing to give the nomination forms free of charge to women, but that already tells you the outcome.
Any woman who receives a nomination form free of charge knows that she is not getting anywhere politically. She is not even going to be considered at all. It’s just to say we had such and such several women as contestants or aspirants or whatever.
So, what we are talking about now is that a fundamental shift is needed in terms of our political setup. Let me tell you, now I am supporting reserved seats for women. Why? Because I see that the people in charge will not allow women to come in, in their numbers. They will not allow it unless we do it by legislation, which is what some countries have done.
They have seen that it is important for us to have women represented in political leadership positions. So, we are not going to take chances with it. And we want that change now. That is what some countries have said. They have, therefore, said that for this specific number of seats, whether for the parliament, for the National Assembly, whether Senate, whether House of Reps, whether State Assemblies, only women can contest for that specific number of seats.
These countries have gained the benefit because what we are talking about is not just that we want to see females there. We want to see the contributions that they will make. Men and women do not necessarily reason the same way. But, having both sides represented enriches the quality of decisions. That is what we are saying.
Maybe some of these problems that we have in Nigeria, maybe we wouldn’t be facing them if there had been female voices giving female perspectives to problem-solving at the highest level. Not just everybody – all the men – thinking along the same direction.
That is what we are saying. Nigeria may be suffering because we are not hearing the voices of 50 per cent of the population. You once aspired for the Presidency. From experience, what are the greatest challenges you confronted?
Well, I really don’t see too many challenges that I confronted as being much different from what any man who might have been in a similar position. That is in terms of, maybe, the platform upon which they were running, a small party, not one of the big parties.
If it had been a man running on the KOWA Party platform, he could probably have had the same experience as I did. Indeed, I ran in 2015, but our candidates in 2019, I think, had similar experiences and might even not have gotten as many votes as I did in 2015.
So, I’m not sure that my experience was tied to being a woman. I think it’s tied to the kind of money politics- heavily monetised politics- that we have in Nigeria.
That is, if you do not have plenty of money to give to the electorate, you know, you are probably as good as not running at all. AndI don’t know what we have to do to be able to turn that around.
Nigeria’s politics got new dimensions, including the issue of the cost of nomination forms and then that of vote-buying. How do you think these twin wrongs can be tackled?
Personally, I have been advocating for a reduction of the remuneration for elected officials in Nigeria. You know that for a long time, the members of the National Assembly did not want us to know how much they were earning. In fact, it came up again recently that one of their colleagues was suspended because he revealed to the public the salary being paid to members of the National Assembly.
But what we do know is that Nigerian politicians are the highest paid, or at least among the highest paid in the world, if not the highest paid in the world. So, the problem is that the stakes are too high.
Somebody comes into political office today, whether as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives, and things about him/her just change drastically. If he did not have a car before his election, he suddenly finds him/herself as the owner of, maybe, at least two cars. I don’t know how many cars they buy for themselves, but they start living a high life, earning salaries that they could not have dreamed of before getting into office.
So, my proposal is that we should drastically reduce the earnings of those who are elected to political offices. Or, at least, bring their salaries to be at par with the salaries in the civil service.
I mean, how much does a professor in the university earn? Not up to N1 million. So, how come a member of the House of Representatives, who just managed to scrape a pass in his school certificate examination, or let’s say, who even has a first degree, what entitles that person to N20 million or thereabout per month?
What on earth is going on in Nigeria? Where are our priorities? That is why people are killing and fighting so hard to remain in political office. The remuneration is too high, it’s too huge, my own bottom line recommendation is, slash it. In fact, there are places in the world where they basically have volunteer legislators. Do you have two years to give to your country or to give to your state? Two years of service, practically free of charge.
I know the state of New Hampshire in the US, because I was in a group of women in politics who were taken around some states in America. And, just because they have to give them something, they give them $100 per year. That is $200 for the two years, which is the term. And, yet the state will take a tax out of the $200.
So, basically what they’re saying is, do you have free time to give to your state in service? Come and help your state if you have your means of survival, if you have a place to stay, where to live, and so on, and you don’t need the state’s money for your survival, then come and serve us.
So, I think that these are human beings like us. Nigeria does not seem to be capable of radical steps like that. That has been something that worries me a lot. We have all these problems confronting us, but we seem incapable of taking the radical steps that would address those challenges.
For instance, Senegal was in a difficult situation. Around 2012, when they had these serious floods, they needed money to resettle those affected by the floods, rebuild structures, and so on. So, they took a decision that I’m sure Nigerians would never, ever consider. They decided to scrap their senate so that they would save and use all that money for the population.
They said, look, we’ve borrowed enough; we’re not going to borrow for this particular need. But, in Nigeria, we will just keep borrowing. So, these are some of my concerns as an individual.
In the recent uproar in the National Assembly about sitting arrangement, do you think the problem had more to do with one person involved being a woman, than the issue of low-level enlightenment about parliamentary procedures?
As far as that matter is concerned, I am waiting for there to be a proper investigation, that’s all. But, I believe that one outcome of this should be a review of the orders (Rule Book) of the laws and regulations of the Senate itself.
Why is where somebody sits so important in terms of the governance of the country? What powers have been given to the Senate President? If excessive powers have been given to the Senate President, then that ought to be reconsidered. Because let’s be aware of this, all the senators came into the Senate on exactly the same platform. None of them was elected as President of the Senate. They all came in and were elected by their various constituencies to represent them in the Senate.
And, it was after they got into the senate that they were selected by their colleagues as the President of the Senate, Deputy President and what have you. So, there is not one of them who is above the other in terms of how they got in there. And I think this very important point should be made.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, once people get into a position, they begin to ascribe more powers, or maybe the rules and regulations have been framed like that to ascribe unnecessary powers to occupiers of public office.
One thing I am grateful for is this opportunity for the current conversation that is going on in the country. And I hope that one of the outcomes, as I have said, will be the review of the rules and regulations governing the affairs of the Senate.
Let it be clear that their primary duty is to govern Nigeria properly. It is not about whether you say sorry or not sorry, or what you do that will warrant your suspension or not. This is where you must sit or not sit. Those are not the primary objectives of the Senate.
My own take on the matter is to let there be a proper investigation. And usually, when there is an accusation against somebody, that person should recuse him/herself. They should step down from whatever position they occupy if they become the object of a complaint so that a proper investigation can be carried out.
