We Are Committed to Restoring Women's Dignity

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We Are Committed to Restoring Women's Dignity - Hafsat

This Day
INTERVIEW
Kolawole Ologbondiyan
7 June 2007

Mrs Hafsat Abiola-Costello, daughter of the late business magnate and politician, Chief M.K.O Abiola is currently working hand in hand with varying international organizations with a view to ensuring adequate women participation in Nigerian politics and simultaneously enhance the status of womenfolk in the society. In this online chat with Kolawole Ologbondiyan, Hafsat disclosed why she formed Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), the impact oit has made thus far, its overall objectives and its affiliation with other relevant organizations. She spoke on other issues as well. Excerpts

Tell us a little about Hafsat Abiola-Costello and Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND). Why was the organization formed? I am a 32-year old Nigerian who works in the social profit sector, mainly with the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), an organization I founded following the assassination of my mother, Kudirat Abiola by agents of (the late dictatorial head of state, General Sani) Abacha's military government. I also work with several global organizations including Vital Voices, an international organization founded by Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton, which has over 5000 women leaders in its international network. I am currently on the Global Advisory Council for Vital Voices and the World Future Council, a global council based in Germany that seeks to be a voice for future generations.

KIND was formed to build on Kudirat's legacy of engaged citizenship. Nigeria is clearly a country at the crossroads, with the possibility of moving forward, strengthening its fledgling democracy and adopting policies that can move Nigerians out of poverty. We exude the possibility of resenting moving backward, back to governments that are authoritarian, bereft of vision and corrupt.

At KIND, we believe that citizens, including Nigerian women, have a right and responsibility to engage with the state to determine which course we adopt. Consequently, we offer programmes aimed at empowering women to become engaged citizens. Our main programme is Kudirat, a leadership training programme that is offered to over 1,000 young women students in universities around Nigeria each year. A new activity that we launched last year is 30 by 11, which aims to achieve 30 per cent women's representation in decision-making positions in government by 2011.

What is the 30 by 11 campaign all about?

30 by 11 is a campaign to promote women's political participation by mobilizing and co-ordinating strategic actions towards increasing women's representation on party tickets during the 2007 and 2011 elections.

How feasible is the 30 by 11 campaign?

The 30 by 11 campaign has a good chance of succeeding. Already, many influential politicians have endorsed the idea of proportional representation of women. The campaign's main challenge is the weakness of the current democratic system where it ís mainly about individuals and not parties and democratic institutions and about power plays, not process or policies. This creates an environment where politics becomes an end-game, instead of also being an instrument of governance.

So, in the lead up to the 2007 elections, so much time was spent with back room politicking that the work of determining the rules of the electoral process and preparing for the elections, stages, which if carefully organized could have encouraged women's political participation, were set aside till the last minute and then carried out unsatisfactorily. From that experience, we 've learned that civil society groups must engage politicians as well as the political parties and institutions early to see that terms favourable to women's political participation are adopted and enforced before the next elections.

How will the 30 by 11 campaign be implemented?

KIND is working with various stakeholders to execute this campaign. Already there is a coalition consisting of several (non governmental organizations (NGOs) with interest in increasing women's participation in politics. They include: Alliances for Africa (AFA), Baobab for women's human rights, Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Female Leadership Forum (FLF), Gender and Development Action (GADA), Head High International, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), Women's Optimum Development Fund (WODEF), Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Women Law and Development Centre, Women Consortium of Nigeria.

KIND is also in partnership with the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) to provide free legal assistance to women aspirants seeking legal redress in the just concluded 2007 elections. We are currently working with FIDA on the case of Mrs. Saida Saad, a female political aspirant in Kano.

The 30 by 11 campaign is being funded for the first year (2007) by the Canadian International Development Fund (CIDA) through its Gender Equality Support pilot project (GESPP).

What efforts did KIND take during the last elections to ensure women's participation in politics?

Our efforts were mostly centered on increasing the visibility of female aspirants and raising awareness among the public about the need to vote for women during elections.

How can women be incorporated into the decision making process?

In the 2003 administration, we all noted that women politicians generally acquitted themselves well in carrying out their various responsibilities. The various federal, state and local government administrations can build on this by appointing an equitable proportion of women to their respective cabinets or councils. Consequently, by placing a legal quota in the constitution or in the electoral law and ensuring compliance by all bodies involved is a sure way to secure the involvement of women in the decision-making process.

What impact would it make if women occupy political positions?

What difference did it make when black people in South Africa were able to participate in governing South Africa? What difference did it make when a significant proportion of a society has the opportunity to determine how their government functions? We can expect that the government's actions will begin to reflect wider, as opposed to narrow interests and needs.

When half of Nigeria's population is represented in the decision-making process of the country, we can expect that decisions that the government takes on all matters will be more representative of the needs of the population. And given that this half is women, we can expect a different ordering of national priorities, a different allocation of national resources.

This is not a mere speculation. It's borne out by looking at the cases of Scandinavian countries where women make up about 45 per cent of the governments. You see that more resources are allocated to health care, education and moved out of defence and other areas. Ultimately, however, the campaign is really about fairness. Whatever impact women will have is secondary. As citizens, they have a right to participate at all levels in nation-building and it is fair and right that they do so.

What could be responsible for the discrimination against women vying for electoral posts?

It is likely a legacy of colonial and military rule, both of which allowed for a small clique of men to rule or misrule a nation of people. Unfortunately, since these two systems dominated much of Nigeria's history over the last century, Nigerians now believe that it is our culture that women do not engage in politics. Yet, women's participation in public affairs in many pre-colonial African societies is well documented. Like many unhealthy practices that we adopted during military rule, this is yet another that we will need to explore.

Why do you think Nigerians prefer to vote for men as against women?

We actually can't say that Nigerians prefer to vote for men because in a lot of cases, Nigerians have voted for women. What we can say is that currently, in a number of elections, the votes do not determine the outcome. Other factors, such as the use of gangs to intimidate voters and politicians and rigging, trump people's votes. That's a problem for women who are competing in those elections and do not employ these methods but it's also a problem for men and for the country as a whole because it suggests that our democracy is being derailed.

Will KIND raise funds for women wanting to participate in politics? And if yes, how?

UNIFEM has a project that it is developing to raise funds for women wanting to participate in politics. KIND already connected the UNIFEM people in Nigeria with our partner organization, Vital Voices, which has a global network of over 5000 women in over 100 countries working to promote women's political participation. Vital Voices can provide UNIFEM with information on what strategies were adopted in developing and managing similar women's funds in other countries. We will continue to offer other supports for this as the need for funds is the most frequently mentioned obstacle that women interested in politics mention.

In which other way, will KIND assist these women?

We have three main services that we are offering women politicians. KIND in partnership with FIDA, will provide free legal counseling for female politicians who experience electoral malpractices. Another service which is quite pertinent to this campaign is the (public relations) PR component for female politicians. KIND engaged the services of a Sesema PR and has developed a dynamic and comprehensive campaign aimed at raising the profile of female aspirants during the elections. Last but certainly not least is the placement of young women interested in politics with aspirants to assist them during their campaigns and also learn from them as they embark on their own careers.

Do you think more women would want to be involved in politics despite the unsafe political terrain?

I think many shy away from politics because of the unsafe terrain, but if they and other well-meaning people begin to participate in politics from the community to national level, they can influence the political culture so that there will be less violence.

What steps have been taken by the 30 by 11 campaign so far?

Work towards increasing women's participation in politics began as far back as November 2005 when KIND in collaboration with the British Council held a Leadership and Mentoring Workshop in Abuja. The forum was to connect motivated young women interested in politics to established women politicians and leaders. KIND also, in June 2006 organized a symposium for various stakeholders including women political aspirants, NGOs and government agencies to secure support for the campaign. Specifically, KIND organized a discussion about 30 by 11 on Today's Woman with Adesuwa (Onyenokwe), a weekly talkshow on the National Television Authority (NTA) with panelists which included Ms. Toyin Caxton-Martins (female politician and current Senior Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu), Mrs. Toyin Obaseki, a grassroots female politician and Ms. Shola Salako (National Secretary, Fresh Democratic Party).

Can you envisage the percentage of women that would be involved in the politics in 2011?

30 per cent.

Why is this project of particular importance to you?

It's important to me because I believe in my country and I'd like to see us assume a position of responsible leadership within Africa and globally. In order to lead, our population must be properly harnessed; women and men must be empowered to participate in all aspects of life so that their many talents can be unleashed toward solving problems and pushing us ahead.

Unfortunately, in the political arena and in other respects, we are failing to create an enabling environment for our citizens to engage effectively in building Nigeria.

So much so that although we like to say we are the giant of Africa, aside from population size, we are often lagging behind others in development indices. Take women's participation in politics, already there are many African countries that have exceeded 30 per cent representation, from small Rwanda to medium sized South Africa. Nigeria falls in the lowest category of countries. Things like this affect others' perception of Nigeria and Nigerians and communicate the message that we are not a progressive country.

What other projects is KIND involved in?

KIND is involved in the VDAY Worldwide Campaign, a global campaign to raise awareness and support for projects aimed at ending violence against women and girls. Our involvement in that allowed us to bring the Vagina Monologues to Nigeria to be performed for the first time ever in 2006 and again in March this year. Through the performances, KIND raised over N1million for two organisations working on issues of violence in Lagos state.

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