After 23 years of uninterrupted democracy, Nigerians are yet to enjoy dividends of democracy, the Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) has lamented.
The centre specifically said the country lagged behind in all human capital indexes.
According to the Executive Director of CCSI, Babafunke Fagbemi, Nigeria still ranks as one of the countries with highest incidents of poverty, high unemployment rate, parlous state of health facilities, high rate of illiteracy and lagging behind in other human capital development indexes.
Addressing the commemoration of the 2022 Democracy Day in Kaduna Funke, who spoke through the organisation’s Team Lead in Kaduna state, Ibrahim Abubakar, decried poor women and youth representation in the democratic process especially as seen in the recently concluded primary elections of the major political parties in Nigeria.
“The recent primary election in preparation for 2023 election has left so much disappointment across the country. There were allegations of bribery of delegates for votes, violence and intimidation across most of the political parties in Nigeria, women participation in politics is not proportionate to the over 45% of the country’s population which they represent.
“Over the years, women and youth have been excluded from leadership and decision-making processes in leadership. Therefore, there is need for women and youth inclusion and participation. Women and youth inclusion and participation mean equality in the representation of men, women and youth in both numbers and the levels of decision-making.
“For the emerging democracy in Nigeria to be sustainable, all groups within the population must be actively involved in governance. Their voices need to be heard and their experiences and expertise utilised for the optimal growth and development of the country,” Funke said.
The Monitoring and Evaluation officer, Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women, William Biya said, “the We-You Pro with its “Hope, Action and Progress for women and youth in politics” campaign seeks to strengthen the relationship between citizens, government and politicians in Nigeria by way of mobilising women and young people to take active role in the democratic processes.
“June 12 is a democracy day and the essence of the campaign is to see an increment in the number of women and youths participating in politics, reduce voters apathy and encourage people to register and come out to vote on election day. So, don’t just register, don’t just get your permanent voter’s card, but make sure you come out to vote on election day,” he tasks women and young Nigerians.”
