‘A crying shame’ — activist tackles senate over withdrawal of gender equality bill

Chioma Agwuegbo, executive-director of TechHerNg, a platform that promotes knowledge sharing for women in technology, says it is “unfortunate” that a bill on gender equality was withdrawn at the senate.

TheCable had reported how Biodun Olujimi, senator representing Ekiti south, was made to stand down a bill seeking to promote women empowerment and gender equality after some lawmakers cited “socio-cultural and Islamic concerns”.

In interview with TheCable, Agwuegbo said the reasons given by the senators over the bill are “frivolous”.

“What the senate did yesterday is very unfortunate. To see such an important bill stood down by the senators after wide consultations, especially for these frivolous reasons, shows the quality of representation we have in 2021,” she said.

“This is what we get when we have the shameful percentage of women in the national assembly and a culture that doesn’t prioritise women or their needs.

“This landmark bill has the potential to advance the cause of women in Nigeria. Yet, just because three senators out of 109 said the word ‘equality’ disagrees with them and contravenes the Quran, they tossed it out.

“It is one thing to show up at women’s events and parrot support for them, but to pass legislation that actually moves them forward is this tedious and that is a crying shame.”