Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan on Thursday pressed for greater women participation in politics and representation in governance to enhance “proper function of democracy” in the country.
Uduaghan, declaring open a National Orientation Agency (NOA) two-day National Workshop on Promoting Women Political Empowerment, Peace and Security in Asaba on Thursday, added that “achieving the goal of equal participation of women in decision making will provide a balance”
The Governor who was represented by his Deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama noted, “women’s equal participation in decision making is not only a demand for justice but can also been seen as a necessary condition for women’s interest to be protected.
“Women form an important part of the masses. Their development in other sectors depend on their involvement in the policy making process for their interest to be represented.”
But he lamented, “there are structures and organizations that wield power and authority that prevent women from achieving political equality…Established restrictive practices and constraints …have not allowed them to take full advantage of their numbers and position to significantly influence the decision making process.
“As a result, the potentials of more than half of the Nigerian population remain unexplored and the scope of labour, energy and human resources available for national development is restricted.
Uduaghan observed, “there is no gain saying that nationally, the women folk are not well represented in the political scene and solution should be sought to improve their participation through empowerment processes.”
He informed that the Delta State Government has surpassed the Beijing Declaration with regard to appointment of women to public offices, adding that girl child enrollment figures in the State have also exceeded the target of the Millennium Development Goals.
“The State has also adopted the participatory approach and we are mobilizing the grassroots, including women to participate in the planning and monitoring of our programmes to ensure adequate coverage, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability,” he said.
