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Patience Jonathan, the wife of Nigeria’s president, yesterday
advocated the participation of more women in politics, saying the involvement
of women in the country’s politics is unimpressive.

Addressing the wives of governors and deputy governors at the
presidential villa, Mrs Jonathan said their involvement will help women advance
their rights and those of their children.

“Only seven per cent of women are presently occupying both
elective and appointed positions at the three tiers of government in the
country,” she said.

She said she invited the wives of the governors for the meeting
so that they could review the roles played by women against those expected to
be played by them in a democracy.

“The purpose of this interactive meeting is to exploit the
opportunity and contribute towards the upliftment of the standard of our
governance,” Mrs Jonathan said.

“You should know that only seven per cent of women are
occupying elective and appointed positions today in Nigeria, covering the three
tiers of government. This is far from the 35 per cent affirmative action. We
need to exploit our roles as women to lobby, to be more visible now that 2011
is by the corner.”

Also at the meeting were the wives of service chiefs and those
of principal officers of the National Assembly.

Pass Child Rights bill

She also challenged the wives of governors from the 12 states
that are yet to pass the Child’s Right bill, to lobby their husbands and their
respective Houses of Assembly to get the bill passed.

“Don’t forget your primary responsibilities as wives and mothers,” she said.
“You must contribute to peace and build bridges of unity. Take care of your
children and lobby your husbands and state Assemblies to pass the Child Rights
Act. You must encourage women to contest elections. I advise you to use your
NGOs to empower the women by identifying pressing needs of the communities.”