A hundred years ago, the principle of elective representation was introduced to Nigeria, courtesy of the Clifford Constitution, so named after the Governor-General, Sir Hugh Clifford.
Historically, Nigeria’s political parties started off on a patriarchal and hierarchical note. This may be traced to that fact that the Constitution with its underlying victoria ideologies, did not allow women to vote or contest in elections. Of course, this colonial philosophy merged with existing indigenous patriarchy, and a male-dominant political class was birthed in Nigeria.
Newspapers affiliated with some of the parties, campaigned for the inclusion of women in electoral politics. One of the earliest editorials was published by the NYM’s Daily Service in March 1949, titled “Enfranchisement of Women.” But this did not reflect in the party’s organisational structure and activities. Indeed the same year, NYM created an all-male representative council to discuss Nigeria’s constitutional problems.
Political parties in the Second and Third Republic adopted a slightly different format. History shows that the women’s section was merged into the main body of the party, and a position called National Women Leader became fossilised. During the Second Republic, the main parties of National Party of Nigeria, Unity Party of Nigeria, Peoples’ Redemption Party, Great Nigeria People’s Party and Nigeria People’s Party, institutionalised this position.
In the recently-held national conventions of the All Progressive Congress and Peoples’ Democratic Party , women were unsurprisingly not included in top key positions in the national executive party structures/ national working committees. They were relegated to the usual National and Deputy Women leader posts; a few others were made assistants and ex-officios.