Nigeria Ranks Lowest Among ECOWAS Countries With Fewer Women In NASS – Hon Helen Esuene

Senator Helen Esuene

Senator Helen Esuene has been a member of the ECOWAS Parliament for the past three years and speaks to LEADERSHIP Reporter, Chikelu Chinelo on issues of women’s representations in West African governments and ECOWAS. 

What is your view of female representation in the ECOWAS Parliament?

Fortunately or unfortunately, it is largely tied to female representatives in all 15 countries. Some countries have a fair number of female parliamentarians; some are struggling as the case in Nigeria. We almost rank the lowest in the number of female representatives. Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia and Ghana are doing well in representation of women in government. This is a result of the peculiarity of their systems because they do not run a similar system as Nigeria. We need to make more progress than the eight female senators, out of 109 House of Reps members, we have at present. Seven of these women are not returning, though fortunately, I believe they will be replaced by another seven. I think we can do better than that.

In the ECOWAS there are about 27 women representatives, which is good. They are confident women who are good at what they do. I believe the more, the merrier. If it gets better fine and I am not saying this just for the purpose of quantity representative. However, whoever represents these countries should push issues affecting women to their logical conclusion. That is where women participation is necessary. Likewise, we also need to carry the men along, so that they can fully understand the import of the various issues towards which we are working. It will augur well for women.

Do you believe there is adequate female quota in the Parliament?

There isn’t a quota so to speak, in the ECOWAS Parliament. There is a quota though in the Inter-parliamentary Union. It states that each country has three seats in the Council and no state should have one gender, two women and a man, or two men and one female. This is entrenched in their constitution.

What is the role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union?

The union is comparable to the United Nations but specific to parliament. There are about 136 parliaments in the globe. We meet to discuss common issues that affect the world as parliamentarians. It is an instructive meeting held twice, annually.

How many women are there in the Inter-Parliamentary Union?

There are two. There are seven parliamentarians and two out of that are women.

What are challenges of women in the ECOWAS Parliament (coming from your personal experience as well)?

ECOWAS is properly structured and one can easily fit into their slots, and do their parts in terms of contributions and interventions. I am okay with the organ. However, if we look at the participating countries as a block (we are here to represent our various communities), there are many issues that need to be looked into or reviewed. For instance, we talked about women adopted by Boko Haram; we need to discuss the process of their rehabilitation – physical rehabilitation, emotional and mental rehabilitation before re-integrating them back in to the society. For people to be adopted for more than six months, it affects them in more ways than one. There should be some organised counseling for these women at various levels of the communities. These should extend to some months. It isn’t simple to just talk once or twice to the victims and resolve all their hurts. These are issues women understand better. It is only when we push these issues that the ECOWAS will realize their importance and act to fill in the yawning gap.

Some communities may view this rehabilitation of Boko Haram abductees as favoring one country over others. How will women address this issue so that it is viewed more as a general issue that needs be tackled immediately?

When we come together in ECOWAS, we are individual countries yet at the same time, we look at the collective good of the communities. I have led discussions by bringing it to bear by way of advice, based on my experience or input and others are bound to benefit from it. We won’t say that if an issue is peculiar to a country, that we expect other countries to process solutions to it, if the problem does not exist in their countries. However, by coming together we learn from one another, share experiences. Other countries are also pre-warned, because without a forum such as this, they will never be aware of similar or different situations that are brewing, issues that are yet to be conspicuous.

How successfully has the presence of women in the parliament positively impacted women and children related issues in ECOWAS?

It has impacted women’s lives immensely. Today, the session is putting together a workshop on Peace, Security and Judicial Affairs to address certain issues within the community and women were not included. This had to be tabled for discussion by the Committee Chairman who is a lady that women should be included in that workshop, despite people’s attempts to waive away the issue. We insisted that in times of crisis and insecurity, women and their children are more victimized than the opposite gender. Therefore, they should attend by right. It is not about 35 per cent quota, rather it is about enlightenment for women to benefit from such workshop. The Committee reviewed and accepted our complaint to include women in the workshop. That is one of the instances where women’s participation positively impacted women’s lives.

While attending some of your sessions, I noticed that the Francophone nations are more vocal, involved and physically present in the parliament than the Anglophones who are rarely present and least voluble. This has led to more of their countries’ issues being discussed and tackled in the organ. Why is this so?

The Francophone countries are more in number than the English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries. There are just about four Anglophone countries and two Lusophones.

An issue was also raised that the Nigerian representatives were always very busy. That is because we are in a transitory period at present. Political figures are getting ready to leave their offices. This morning we had to rush away to the House because of the death of two members. Others are in tribunal, and others are campaigning for a higher political office. ECOWAS Parliament and HQ located in Abuja, Nigeria makes for a lot of distraction for the Nigerian parliamentarians. That is not the same for others who have left every other activity back home and are more focused on the session. There is parliament’s discussion on the issue, and I think it right that the position of parliamentarians should not necessarily be seating members of House of Assembly in their countries. It isn’t possible to be in the same meetings without distraction. One can have Committee meeting, house seating in one day. If people are elected on permanent basis they can give it total attention. I pray that this adoption sails through eventually.

What policies would you like to see in place that will put forward women issues in the community?

Women issues are closely tied to community issues. Many community issues affect women. If we get certain issues resolved in the communities, it will impact positively the lives of women. The issue of Fulani herdsmen and farmers is found everywhere. It isn’t just in Nigeria, it stretches as far as the Niger Republic and other neighbouring countries. If that is addressed, it should be reviewed and resolved as a community problem because when these crises occur, those who suffer most are women and children. Women lose their children, their husbands. Community problems are women problems.