From the Facebook Page of Daniel Bott
An uncanny coincidence that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension came just about the time the world is celebrating International Women’s Day. And the theme, “For all women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,” has Natasha written all over it in red, bold ink.
That the cards are stacked against women in politics is common knowledge. The 10th (current) senate with 109 members has only 4 women, a miserly 3.7%. The 9th senate faired even better, with 8 women. Within one election cycle, the number of women senators reduced by half. The space is definitely shrinking. You will not see how badly we are doing until you put our numbers side by side with the numbers in other African countries. Rwanda has over 60% women representation in parliament; South Africa has 46%; Senegal has 40%, thereabout. In fact, globally, Nigeria has the 6th lowest female representation in parliament.
Why is the situation like this in Nigeria? There are financial reasons, and there are reasons related to society’s perception of women in politics. In fact, at the family level, men don’t want their wives playing anywhere near the shark-infested waters of politics. There are other reasons, many of which are steeped in intolerant, ignorant partriachy – sometimes in the garb of culture, other times in the garb of religion.
For the sheer number of ego-thumping men in our parliament, the place smells like a he-goat pen: the musk of testosterone there hangs like an oversized jacket.
I am worried about the dwindling numbers of women in parliament. A 50% reduction in one election cycle is a lot. How low can we go? The barriers to entry into mainstream politics are increasing. Even the voices of the few are muffled, disrespected, or dismissed as the “ranting of stubborn women.”
In my opinion, this tiff between Senator Natasha and the senate is not about Natasha. I am the first to admit that she broke the senate rules and she might have achieved more if she had presented her case more calmly. But the ethics committee had a job to do – to sack her from the senate, regardless of what the courts or the constitution says. I heard clearly the senate president’s comment the first day when he said, “Prepare her for suspension.”
Truth is Senator Natasha has become a rallying point for the voice of the oppressed. Whether she broke the senate rules or not is beside the point. The senate also did wrong by sacking her without fair hearing, and in flagrant disregard to the court order they received.
I have been engaged in some back and forth on this matter in a few WhatsApp groups and I am shocked to discover the level of gender illiteracy amongst otherwise educated, decent men. One said “how can a woman say she was harassed when she was enjoying the attention?” Another said she has many children from many husbands so she has no right to complain of harassment. But the most ignorant comment came from someone I used to have high regard for. He said, “after all she wasn’t touched in any sensitive part, so what is she complaining about?” Truly, many are mad but few are roaming.
I was shocked to realize that we have sexist, misogynists, ultra-patriarchal demigods, and closet rapists amongst us. You spot them very easily: they are the ones who are quick to ask a woman to provide concrete evidence of the assault. They bring the argument, “But men are also harassed now!” And they accuse the victim of intolerance. Mostly, you spot them by their ill-timed humour when issues of gender are discussed. They think it’s a joke.
I have also been shocked by the tepid response of women to the debates. Most are disinterested – you would think that they have immunity against harassment. Many others are too shy to even put mouth in the discussions. Others have been so badly abused psychologically that they are more patriarchal than those testosterone-filled men in the gentleman’s club we call a parliament. They are the ones who say they deserve to be beaten by their boyfriends and husbands because they did wrong.
Early in my career, the organization I worked for prioritised gender training and it had a strict gender policy in place. Those trainings, even though I didn’t think much of them at the time, have broadened my understanding of sexual harassment, gender mainstreaming, and other associated themes.
A forty-something, or fifty something-year-old man who still thinks that harassment only happens when a woman’s “sensitive parts” are touched should be thrown away in that dumb site near his house so that scavengers can come and carry him and take him to the landfill site where he will be more useful.
Senator Natasha has given the 2025 IWD theme new meaning in my eyes: Stand up to institutional bullying. It will cost you your rights, privileges and freedoms. But it is very liberating for those who walk in your shoes daily, and understand the sacrifice you have made.
Happy International Women’s Day in advance to all strong women and girls who remain unbowed, and unapologetic in the face of tyranny, violence and inequity.
