Veteran Nollywood actress Joke Silva has criticized the stark lack of women rising to governorships and other senior elected offices across Nigeria.
She contends the exclusion of female perspectives from political leadership contradicts the nation's early post-independence promise.
Noting influential figures like anti-colonial icon Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Silva said women were at the vanguard of pre and early independence leadership. However, recent decades have seen severe regression from those gains.
“By now, we should have had a female governor democratically elected as a minimum milestone,” Silva told TVC in a recent interview. She highlighted current First Lady and former Senator Remi Tinubu as one of the few nationally prominent women in contemporary Nigerian politics.
The celebrated actress argued that the shortage of female governors and legislators leaves Nigerian democracy effectively “clapping with one hand” in terms of gender representation and balance in decision making.
Advocates say achieving inclusive, participatory governance requires systematically increasing women accessing and attaining political offices, including gubernatorial leadership. And relative to much of Africa, Nigeria's levels of women occupying parliamentary seats and cabinet positions remain low.
Quashing limitations on the ambitions and ascent of female public servants ultimately serves to enrich discourse, inspire new generations of girl youth and foster policies that uplift women socially and economically.
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