Senator Grace Wants Gender Equality In Constitution

Senator Grace Bent has warned that unless the 35% affirmative action on women is enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, achieving gender equality in the country would remain a mirage.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja during a lecture to mark the International Women’s Day organised by the Abuja correspondent chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Senator Bent called for a consensus action on gender equality, adding that the country cannot continue to play lip-service to the issue.

“There must be a general consensus on this gender equality in Nigeria. This cannot be realised if it is not deliberately enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. We cannot continue to play lip service to the 35% affirmative action”, she said.

Bent who noted that the 35% affirmative action was a colossal failure in Nigeria, appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to liaise with the ruling Peoples’Democratic Party (PDP) to make the issue a constitutional matter.

In a keynote address, Chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs and Youth Development, Senator Helen Esuene, noted that the 35% affirmative was meant to address the imbalance in the society, adding that women’s contributions to political leadership were critical to societal development.