Affirmative action and quotas critical to achieving gender inclusion —Erelu Bisi Fayemi

Erelu Bisi Fayemi, First Lady of Ekiti State and wife of His Excellency, Dr Kayode Fayemi is an interviewer’s delight. Self-assured and knowledgeable, you leave her presence encouraged that there is indeed a lot of mettle yet waiting to be explored. Business Hallmark spoke with her recently at her office in Ado-Ekiti on the eve of her receiving the 2019 Zik Prize for Leadership in Humanitarian Service. Excerpts:

Given your decades-long work in the field of gender studies and activism, how would you assess the state of the woman in Africa today?

Thank you. I have worked in this field for some three decades and I want to believe that if I am going to talk about the status of women in Africa today, it will be a case of five steps forward and ten steps backward.

Of course a lot has been achieved over this time. For the first time, there is recognition among African governments that gender-based issues are important and that they should be an integral part of national development.

We have women now more than ever who are being educated. There is a huge rise in the number of girls who are being enrolled in school. It is now quantitatively the case for more girls to go to school. We have more women in leadership in the public sector, in the private sector and in the social sector, and women contribute tremendously to socio-economic development in many African countries.

African women have therefore come a long way in a sense. A lot of progress has been made in terms of recognizing the need to have gender mainstreaming policies and practices in places. There are several regional and national legal and policy frameworks meant to guarantee the promotion of gender equality such as the Protocol on Women’s Right in Africa, the African Union’s Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality as well as the Agenda 2030 for the achievement of the Soxial Development Goals, SDGs. About all the regional economic bodies (SADC, COMESA, ECOWAS, etc) also have gender policies in place, and there are some countries with specific clause on the inclusion of women in decision-making such as South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

But in spite of all these gains, there is a huge backlash yet when it comes to the fact of the need for women to have a voice in decision-making. So yes, we have women in some countries that have pushed boundaries and barriers. We have seen the first female President in Liberia, we have seen that Rwanda has the largest number of women in parliament and we have seen tremendous strides in countries like South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. But on the whole, the vast majority of African women still lack a voice in decision-making, poverty is still endemic and gender-based violence has reached pandemic levels. In many African countries, African women, regardless of their position and standing continue to suffer from the limitations of patriarchal power and privilege. Religion, culture and tradition for example continue to find a way of conspiring to ensure that women do not achieve their full potential.

Due to the pervasive nature of patriarchal power, attitudes and behaviors toward the empowerment of women and girls continue to work against the vast majority of women on the continent. Most women live in poor, rural areas where resources are scarce and decisions have to be made by families on who gets what. Under these circumstances, boys tend to be favoured over girls in terms of educational opportunities. A lack of education and training opportunities means a life of dependence and poor choices, making women vulnerable to trafficking, commercial sex work, exposure to HIV/AIDS and violent marriages. Negative cultural practices continue to place women at a disadvantage: for example lack of inheritance rights, widowhood practices, female genital mutilation, and so on. Other factors such as violent conflict and displacement, lack of political will to implement laws and policies, lack of financial, material and technical resourced and others have meant that the gains that African women have made over the years continue to be eroded.

So while on the one hand, we have made some progress but then we keep pushing back against some of these situations. And this is what has driven my involvement over the years in the field of feminist activism – through my lectures, my writings, and also the things that I bring to public service.

The records show that you were personally involved with the movement that eventually crystallized into a frontline role for Liberian women and the eventual ascendancy of Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to the Presidency in that West African nation. Compared with the Liberian situation, have Nigerian women pushed as hard as they could?

It is not a case of Nigerian women pushing as hard as they can, it’s a case of so many factors coming into play. Nigerian women cannot achieve anything on their own as you expect without the support of men, particularly those who are in decision-making positions, who need to show understanding and admit that they cannot build a great nation, that they cannot achieve any of their developmental goals without the full and active participation of Nigerian women.

The situation in Liberia, and maybe as we have also seen in a country like Rwanda was the case of a country being torn apart in terms of economic, political and social upheaval. And when societies totally fall apart like that, it is men and women who have to build it back up. And if most of the men have vanished into the urban area to go and fight the wars or look for means of survival, it is the women who are left behind to keep the community together. And because it is also women who bear the brunt of much of the fall-outs – it is women who were being conscripted as sex slaves, it is women who were seeing their daughters and their husbands being torn apart to service the war, women were the ones who were seeing their lives fall apart – and so they were the ones who also began to pitch for peace in the country. And that then created an opportunity for women to rise to the challenge of providing leadership.

Here in Nigeria, we don’t need to totally fall apart before we recognize that we have to provide opportunities for both men and women to contribute to the society. The point at which we recognize women’s true value to the development process is the point where we would truly begin to reap the benefits of good government in Nigeria and I believe it would start with the need to have the financial and legal framework which would ensure that women can access the funds that they deserve. For example in countries like Uganda, South Africa, Rwanda and Kenya, they have laws about affirmative action; we don’t have that in Nigeria. Some are arguing that it is not necessary but it is absolutely necessary if you want to create a level playing field. Without policies around affirmative action in the United States, we would not have had the vibrant civil rights movement that years later made it possible for the black people to have the rights that they have today and which eventually made it possible to have the first Black President. It was also the same thing with the post-apartheid era in South Africa. So if we continue to deny the fact that women have a key role to play and we continue to do what we are doing now through our policies and laws to make that impossible, we would in a sense be continuing to clap with one hand as the late MKO Abiola had been known to say.

Here in Ekiti, how well have the Gender Based Violence, GBV and the Gender Equal Opportunities Bill, GEOB been implemented? Has there been any commendable improvement? Are there any areas that need to e improved upon?

Sadly, the range of gender-friendly laws that the Dr Kayode Fayemi administration put in place between 2010 and 2014 were not adequately implemented, if not outrightly ignored after he left office in 2016.

I recall that I had worked with other stakeholders to get the Gender Based Violence Prohibition Law of 2011, the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill of 2013 and the HIV Anti-Stigma Law of 2014 to come into effect. However, nothing much was done by way of implementation or enforcement after we left in 2014. The GBV Bill for example had a Management Committee responsible for the monitoring and implementation of the Law and I chaired the Committee. We paid very effective advocacy visits to heads of tertiary institutions, the police, Ministry of Justice, the Chief Judge and the health authorities. As a result of these advocacy efforts, the leadership of the Ekiti State University at the time took a very strong stance against gender-based violence and sanctioned both lecturers and students.  The Attorney- General of the state introduced the Sex Offenders Register in 2013, the first of its kind in Nigeria before Lagos followed suit in 2014. There was also a Survivors Fund embedded in the GBV Law – and it was again, the only one of its kind in Nigeria – which enabled us support survivors of violence to rebuild their lives. We helped over 70 women secure new housing, set up businesses or go back to school. All these gains were stalled in 2014. However, His Excellency Dr. Kayode Fayemi has thrown his weight behind all these initiatives again, so we are back on track. The Survivors Fund has been reinstated and the Sex Offenders register is back.

Has anything changed in your transition from activism to governance? Have there been culture shift issues for example?

Yes, I did experience this to some extent. However, I did not see it as anything completely new to development thinking and practice. Coming from a history of working with social justice movements where we are always struggling with short term quick wins and long-term transformational change, this is to be expected. Every political leader has to grapple with meeting the needs and aspirations of people in ways they can see and feel while at the same time keeping an eye on the bigger picture. Getting this balance right makes all the difference and one can’t be sacrificed over the other.

However, it is an aberration when political demagogues are allowed to frame the issues in ways which suppose that people in communities do not know what is best for them and are only concerned about their stomachs in the here and now. This is why we need a lot more people engaged in the political space in various  capacities to ensure that there is enough awareness, education and sensitization, and to prevent the hijacking of the conversation which is essentially about the future and transformational thinking and action that will get us there.

What advice would you give to a young activist who is conflicted about whether to continue to engage from outside or to enter the formal political system today?

My advice for that young activist conflicted about being an outsider activist or entering into the formal political system is: make a choice that is right for you based on your context. There is nothing wrong in remaining on the political margins and pushing for change from the outside. Many leaders in the political space today were former activists who decided to move into politics. Civil society has always served as a valuable training and capacity building space for leaders. I founded the African Women’s Leadership Institute in 1996 as a training, networking and information forum for young African women. Since then the institute has produced over 6,000 women leaders across the continent, many of them in key positions today, including the formidable activist Dr Issatou Touray, the new vice- president of The Gambia.

When leaders from civil society move into the political arena, much more is expected of them. They are meant to bring new values, fresh insights and different ways of doing things that is not exactly the norm. Having spent time advocating against poor governance and leadership, corrupt practices and unethical behaviour, it is a disappointment when we are perceived not to be the change we are pushing for. On the other hand, an aspiring political player should also note that being in a system means that you can effect change from within but probably not overnight. You will find yourself dealing with entrenched and vested interests that have made it their life’s work to resist change and manipulate processes to suit them; so it is a constant struggle. The key principle is that we need more new faces and voices with the right attitudes toward service and transformational change.

Do you have any thoughts at the moment about a distinct political role for yourself in the future? ‘If your people ask you to run,’ what would that be?

I get asked this question a lot. I am very interested in politics and political processes but not necessarily in running for one myself. This does not mean I will never do it, but it is not on the cards for now.

You have been involved with Pan-Africanism and the Pan-African movement over the years. What is your frank assessment of the Pan-African enterprise today? And from where you stand, would the African Continental Free Trade Agenda, AfCFTA, be a game changer?

The Pan-African dream is fast dying. There is a lot of rhetoric around the need for Africa to build on its strength and share resources and opportunities, the AfCFTA being one of the frameworks within which  that could happen. If we manage to pull it off, then it would open a new world for African integration. The enablement of free movement of people, goods and services beyond immediate sub-regional borders will provide so many opportunities for citizens. It will encourage trade, industry and create jobs and wealth. However, our leaders also need to back this up with increased security and protection for those who might be more vulnerable. For example today, African children and women are trafficked within and outside Africa, so you can imagine what that means when border and customs restrictions are lifted.

There are also a lot of things we need to fix if we are to connect the dots. We have increasingly grown estranged from one another as African countries; we hardly know each other’s history or context anymore. History is no longer being taught in schools. Look at the ‘thriving culture’ of xenophobia in South Africa. A whole generation of South Africans and Southern Africans are generally blissfully unaware of the role countries such as Nigeria played in the liberation of what was then known as the front-line states – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Namibia for example.

The Moremi saga shows up now and again in your writing. Do you see yourself as a Moremi type in any sense?

No, I do not see myself as Moremi. There is only one Moremi and Moremi Ajasoro’s story is one of deep conviction, struggle and sacrifice. It is heartwarming that her story has survived through the ages, as proof that women have always been leaders in our communities, that women are strong, and that they can make tough calls when they have to. Men are socialized into believing that they are the only ones who can provide leadership and gender stereotypes ensure  that women are always cast into supporting roles as submissive wives, mothers and daughters whose identities are always determined by men in their lives. Moremi Ajasoro was a wife and mother, but also a leader in her own right who saved her people from extinction.

However, I have also found Moremi’s story rather troubling. The story of Moremi Ajasoro, as I mentioned in the article on her in my book ‘Loud Whispers’, was also crafted as a cautionary tale for women who aspire for more than what they are meant to have.  When male heroes do great things, they are rewarded with anything they desire. When a woman like Moremi does the same thing, she is asked to sacrifice a child. It is only male storytellers who could come up with a story like that! How could that have been her reward? Generations after Moremi, the story has not changed much. Women enter leadership positions at great cost, and are expected to do extraordinary things to earn or retain such positions, yet the bar is not so high for men! Yes, we do have a handful of very successful and prominent leaders but the vast majority of women do not have about the same leadership opportunities open to them.

So what should Nigeria be doing now to promote greater political gender balancing?

There are many things Nigeria can do to promote gender balancing. Passing the proposed Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill, GEOB would be a good place to start. The GEOB provides for Affirmative Action which will help to improve the political playing field for women. Countries such as Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya for example have significant number of women in leadership because of Affirmative Action and Quotas. Without these legal or policy frameworks, we would never get beyond groveling or begging for inclusion. We need strong political will to not only get the required laws in place, they would also require diligent implementation. There also needs to be a lot of sensitization, awareness raising, coalition building and partnerships with stakeholders such as religious leaders, traditional rulers, market associations, community groups and so on, led by women and men working together.

Do you have any confidence that sometime soon, we could have a female governor or president in Nigeria?

Yes I do. We have an excellent crop of women who have the necessary experience, clout and name recognition to be Governors of their States and Presidents of the country.

We do have a glaring SDGs deficit and critically, our healthcare indices are simply not looking good. What can be done?

Nigeria does indeed have a serious SDGs deficit. W did not achieve any of the original MDGs, and if care is not taken, come 2030, we will have problems accounting for progress with the SDGs too. Key to achievement of the SDGs is the empowerment of women. No nation can achieve any of its development goals if it does not pay serious attention to the full and equal participation of women. There are certain key sectors where this is impossible – the economy, health, education, environment, water and sanitation and so on.

With regards to health, we need more investments in this area. Nigeria still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Insecurity, poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and exclusion from decision-making continue to serve as key drivers which will make it difficult for us to leverage opportunities for change. I however have hope. I am hopeful that there are many new leaders out there who will emerge with new energy and ideas and a commitment to excellence and best practices. This is an agenda all of us have to be invested in.