The book for this week seeks to challenge the womenfolk to get onto the field of politics and shatter the ice ceilings. It was inspired by the need to get more young women involved in politics. Published in 2019 by Grace Springs Africa, it is titled: “Girls Just Want to Run: A Call for Young Women to be involved in Nigerian Politics.” The author, Atiku Nafisa Emmanuella, is a lawyer and mentor, whose forte is sensitising Nigerian youth on critical national issues, and through economic empowerment.
In the book, the author gives an exposition on politics, democracy, youth participation, pop culture, and women inclusion in politics.
In the work, she shares experiences and opinions for the purpose of creating safe space and strategise on how to crush walls that prevent voices from being heard in politics and in every other field where patriarchy exists.
In 100 pages and 15 chapters, the author feels that education is integral for young people to understand the democratic process in which they operate, and the low numbers of women in Nigerian politics is basically her concern. Therefore, she argues that lack of sufficient political education is the basis for wrong leadership choices. She also insists that strong institutions are key to stability. For instance, she did a survey of the Arab spring that spread through the Arab region of the world, specifically pointing at Tunisia as its trigger and only survivor. The flame only made most countries go into more flame because for her, it is not enough to just oust ”selfish and greedy leaders from power, but ensuring that there is no vacuum of office, and capable people with integrity are ready to step in and make the transition smooth, either through lawful engagement through the ballot or revolutions”. She argues also that strong institutions must be available to give the revolutions logical conclusions.
Also Read:
- Amusan mourns Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo
- Senator Kalu mourns Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo
- Gov. Oyebanji mourns death of Chief Ayo Adebanjo
- JAMB registers over 779,000 candidates for UTME
- 23 dead, 48 injured in Kano auto crash — FRSC
In the book, the author powerfully underscores the fact that young people are indispensable to any political movement and can do so much more if they are focused, sacrificial, unified, and avoid the “Esau Syndrome”. Since, young people were not allowed to choose their leaders in the past, and are paying dearly for the many years of military incursion on the nation; they now have power than they actually know, and can now choose their next local government councilor, senator, representatives in the house, Governor and president.
In the book, Nafisa believes that politicians should respond to the needs of the electorate, like companies respond to the needs of the market. She puts it this way: “In the true idealistic nature of things, politicians should not determine the criteria on which you should vote them on. A company that produces goods should not tell you what you need when you know what you want. A good company should be customer-centric. A good government should be citizen–centric; responding to the needs of its citizens.”
The author opines that voting should be based on such criteria as capacity, ideology, skill, and integrity, and that we should vote for people who understand the intricacies of positioning Nigeria properly on the global stage using tools of technology (Artificial Intelligence), entrepreneurship, an inclusive all-reaching healthcare system, good roads, renewable energy, environmental conservation, and gender equity, etc. Anything short of these will make our quest for a better Nigeria very hard to realise.
In the chapter titled: “There’s an Emerging Youth Power, but Where are the Young Women?”, the author brings her perception about the changing phase of governance in Africa. The continent is undergoing a historic revolution led by the youth and hopes this will herald a more informed and inclusive system of governance.
While the voice of young people in Africa especially has been very loud in the determination of the fate of their countries, the author laments that women have been forgotten. She writes that women constitute about 49 percent of Nigeria’s population, but you could count female senators on the fingers of your two hands, and just a handful in the House of Representatives. And young women are almost non-existent in the Nigerian political space. For the author, this is unacceptable.
In Girls Just Want to Run, Nafisa Atiku discusses the place of culture in preventing women from aspiring for and attaining leadership positions. She avers that the problems of society do not demand one gender solve them. She states: “We need the joint efforts of both genders, and to deny ourselves that is to promote a substandard way of existence.”
She also laments the derogatory manner in which women are treated in society and the fact that even progressive minds have reservation about a woman as president, and insists that despite the fact that we have “settled that politics is a difficult place for a young woman; however, because it is difficult doesn’t mean she doesn’t belong there.”
In the book, the author believes that the powerful hold of pop culture on society is huge and its strong advocacy powers should be used to promote the message of inclusiveness of young women in the political space. She also appeals to women in politics to shun the competition which undermines the progress of the women folk. She strongly advocates going local – at the grassroots, building a community around your name and brand and making sure that your campaign stands for something – an ideology that is bigger than you, and she strongly thinks that you should build a movement, and not just a campaign. She also advises young women to be economically empowered to participate in politics, save and invest, network and be socially conscious, form their political ideology early and look for a party that suits their ideology, and more importantly, to start on time.
Ultimately, the book is beautifully written in conversational language, and the author carefully selected illustrations and deep analogies to drive the message home.
. Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via 08023517565 (SMS and WhatsApp only) and email: molatunbosun@splashfm1055.com.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
