By Abdallah el-Kurebe, News Editor
A university Don, Dr Maryam Quadri has called on political parties in the country to abide by the Beijing Declaration, which seeks for allocation of top political positions to females in 2019, and thereby empowering their political status.
Speaking Thursday, Quadri, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos said: “The principle of shared power of responsibility between men and women must reflect in both the elective and appointive positions from the 2019 General Elections. This much, the menfolk and Nigerian parties owe women.’’
The Beijing Declaration was the outcome of the United Nations World Conference of Women, held between Sept. 4 and Sept. 15, 1995, at Beijing, China.
One of the goals of the 1995 Beijing Conference was to advance action for equality of women with men in public decision making,amongst other objectives.
The Don said that Nigerian women were behind in attaining the objectives of the Beijing Declaration,especially in politics, noting that male politicians were still not accommodative of females assuming leadership positions.
“The few women that have held top political positions do not have good tales to tell of support from men. It is clear that the male politicians are yet to come to terms with the fact that there are even more capable women that can lead in politics,’’ she said.
Quadri urged women in politics to continue to push for their emancipation and capture of political power from men, adding that women needed to empower themselves by improving on their education and career.
