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Women: International
Since the voices of politicians drown
out the people, it is those few women
linked to the noisy world of politics
that are occasionally heard. Wives of
Sifting rice from the chaff, Abakiliki Rice
Mill, Ebonyi State. Photo by Christine
Anyanwu. 2001, Startcraft Intl.©
public officers enjoy the best press in
Nigeria. The public profiles of their
husbands rub off and the goodwill plays
in their favor. Generally, they are perceived
as playing supportive roles to
their husbands. Women in government
also make news but this is because they
speak on the portfolios they control,
and those usually include women and
children’s affairs, health and aviation.
Unlike their male colleagues, rarely do
they venture out to comment on issues
of national importance unrelated to
their portfolios.
The visibility of women in elected
offices remains surprisingly low despite
the significant increase in their
numbers in this republic. Like women
in other spheres, they are seen more in
pictures, and their voices continue to
be muffled. In the week of October 15
to 19, for instance, the most contentious
political issue in the country was
the electoral bill, the law to guide the
conduct of the next election. The Senate
had passed it with controversial
provisions, sparking a noisy debate in
the media. In that week, the voices of
women in the federal legislature were
barely heard. Where were they? Did
they not contribute to the debates on
the floors of the Senate and House of
Representatives? What were their views
on the points of contention? It was a
mystery.
The silence of women on important
national and international issues gives
the mistaken impression that they do
not care about the things happening
around them. However, some female
politicians complain that even when
they grant interviews, they are either
not reported or severely misquoted. As
a result, they do not go out of their way
to engage with members of the media.
Maryam Abubakar, a businesswoman
in Abuja, offers another explanation:
“Maybe we have not mastered the art of
public relations operating here.” Angela
Agowike, editorial board member
at the Daily Times of Nigeria, however,
explains that many women, including
those in public office, still do not have
sufficient confidence to speak out publicly
on issues. “They require a little
push; a media friendly environment.”
Agowike belongs to a small group of
journalists who through some funding
provided by the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID)
tried to give women interested in politics
a voice in the media during the preelection
politics of 1999. But that initiative
petered off with the end of the
elections and return of democracy.
Before they were properly weaned,
they were literally left “on their own”
and they slipped back into silence.
Perhaps the most reported issue
concerning women in recent months
is the traffic of women to Europe for
prostitution. Two local NGO’s took it
as a cause, focusing on discouraging
the practice through tougher legislation
and rehabilitating the girls deported
from Europe. The activities of
the NGO’s have enjoyed considerable
media coverage not the least because
their flag bearers are the wives of the
vice president and the governor of one
of the states. That their husbands lent
their political weight to this cause
helped in no small measure in shaping
the attitude of government and by extension
that of the media whose huge
publicity has made the issue one of the
few success stories of media handling
of women’s issues in recent times. It
could also be argued that their interest
in the matter was all the more fired by
the tremendous coverage of the global
problem of woman slavery and prostitution
in the world press. Still, it is a
story of triumph. Through sustained
publicity and pressure, the federal government
has set up its own committee
to draft a law that would empower it to
seek the repatriation of citizens engaging
in such disgraceful practices as prostitution
and fraud abroad.
Overall, the coverage of women in
Nigerian media is comparatively less
impressive than many other nations in
the region. But if, as the study by the
IJC concludes, this state of affairs can
be explained by the overwhelming
dominance of males in the profession,
are the few women, especially those in
decision-making positions, making a
difference?
Currently, there is only one Saturday
editor and one business editor.
There is no female editor or deputy
editor in any major daily newspaper in
Nigeria. In the magazines, females have
made greater inroads with several publishers,
editors in chief, executive editors,
and associate editors.
Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, business editor
of This Day newspaper, explains
the low numbers of women at the top.
“Many women,” she says, “are hired
but they soon marry and drop out of
the profession because they can’t combine
the rigor with raising a family.
Besides, a lot of men are very uncomfortable
when they know their wives
are going out in the street meeting all
sorts of people. They complain of overexposure.”
Like many other women
who have made it to the top,
Nwogwugwu does not believe in gender
discrimination in the newsroom,
perhaps because she has had a good
experience with her peers at her newspaper.
Yet many see that as one of the
obstacles to the rise in the ratio of
women in the profession. One point
on which there appears to be consen-
70 Nieman Reports / Winter 2001