By AbdulRaheem Aodu Kaduna
A Non-Governmental Organisation, Gender Awareness Trust (GAT), has expressed dismay over the low participation of women in politics. Founder of the group, Dr. Lydia Umar made the assertion Th ursday during a 2-day meeting on Building Women for Action in Leadership and Government Positions held in Kaduna. She said it is saddening to note that women are not coming out to participate in the politics of the country despite that they have the numerical advantage. According to her, the women in many cases get easily scared off by their male counterparts. She added that the meeting was mapped out to imbue spirit of competition, transparency, honesty and hardwork in the women so that they can match their male counterparts in the game.
“We have created Professional Cluster, Women in Business Cluster, Civil Society Organisations Cluster, Women in Politics, Purple Cluster and the Male Champions Cluster on this platform in order to create a coalition to support women who are aspiring for political offi ces both in State and national levels. A former Member of the House of Representative from Kaura Federal Constituency, Mrs. Florence Aya, said the womenfolk were facing a lot of challenges which cut across cultural, religious and fi nance, saying the major problem was that some women had not prepared themselves to be politically marketable. Mrs. Aya, therefore, called on women politicians in Kaduna state to ensure that they imbue in themselves certain characteristics that will make them compete favourably with their male colleagues. Former Kaduna State Commissioner for Women Aff airs and Social Development, Mrs. Comfort Amwe, said women were better managers than men and therefore, they should be given opportunity to lead the country. Chairman of Market Women Association, Kaduna state chapter, Mrs. Sarah Benjamin, called on the women to change their attitude towards election in order to creat
