Patriarchal societies have paved the way for women marginalization in every facet of life. In politics, men and sometimes women folks considered women incompetent and incapacitated to act in multi-tasking elective positions, thereby limiting them to the confines of their homes and house chores. Hence, the reason for the formation of the United Nations’ affirmative action in order to give women 35% of the entire available positions. It is on this basis that this study aimed to study the implementation of the United Nations’ 35% affirmative action and its effect on women’s political participation in Kogi State, Nigeria. Methodically, this study is both qualitative (using discourse analysis) and quantitative (descriptive analysis). From the perspectives of democratic participatory theory, this study critiqued the concept of affirmative action vis-a-vis women’s representation in cabinet positions in Nigeria. The study findings revealed that the religion and cultural practices has been the major stumbling block to the implementation of Affirmative Action in Nigeria and Kogi State in particular since 2006. The study concluded that until affirmative action is domesticated, its implementation will be at the whims of the disposition of the government in power for the appointment of more women into Cabinet and other key political positions rather than giving them the actual chance and opportunity to contest for various elective positions especially in Kogi State. Thus, the study recommends that there is need for Kogi State Government (KSG) to domesticate United Nations 35% Affirmative Action through policy implementation and government gazette in order to integrate and provide a clear guideline for promoting women’s participation in political leadership of Kogi State, Nigeria.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19361250
Writers:
Celestina Ongwayozi Audu
Department of Political Science,
Faculty of Social Sciences,
Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
ORCiD ID: https://orcid.org/0009-
0001-0720-4327
Canice Esidene Erunke, PhD.
Department of Political Science,
Faculty of Social Sciences,
Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
Aminu Ibrahim, PhD.
Department of Political Science,
Faculty of Social Sciences,
Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
Corresponding Author’s Email:
auducelestina2402250@nsuk.edu.ng.