A former minister of aviation and the founder/chairperson of Women Leadership Institute (WLI), Dr. Kema Chikwe, has underscored the need to remove institutional, economic, cultural and political impediments to women participation in politics.
Dr. Chikwe who spoke in Abuja at the weekend at the inaugural conference and official launch of WLI, reiterated the call for gender mainstreaming to boost women participation in the decision making process.
She said that unless the increasing obstacles on the path of the women to conquer fears were cast away, the road to national reawakening would continue to be a long one.
The WLI founder also called for an elaborate legislative agenda to improve the cause of the women, urged the 8th Assembly not to relent until the passage of the women empowerment bill now before the federal parliament.
“So far in Africa and in particular reference to Nigeria, no university offers a degree or diploma in Women/Gender Studies which would have essentially helped to neutralise the perception of African societies about women. At best, Women/Gender Studies are subsumed under social sciences.
“The Diploma earned at WLI will go a long way to introducing a new strategy for overcoming the contemporary challenges of women leadership posed by discrimination of any form and thereby acclaiming the assertion that in future, there will be no female leaders; there will just be leaders,” she said.
