Sarah Jibril: My One Vote'll Continue to Haunt Women
Sarah Jibril
A presidential aspirant during the January 13 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary, Mrs. Sarah Jubril, has said the "one vote" she recorded during the party's presidential primary will continue to haunt Nigerian women.
Speaking with journalists at the Federal High Court in Abuja Thursday, Jubril denied filing any case against the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as the party's candidate in the April general election.
She said she only went to court to challenge the emergence of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the consensus candidate of the North under the Mallam Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPFL).
The presidential aspirant, who made the clarification against the backdrop of reports that she had taken PDP to court over Jonathan's emergence as the party's candidate, said she neither sued Jonathan nor the party.
She explained that she went to court to challenge the emergence of Atiku as a Northern presidential candidate by NPLF because the process that led to his emergence was discriminatory against her and the womenfolk.
According to her, as a Northerner and presidential aspirant, she was not screened by the NPLF before arriving at the consensus arrangement.
She added that her not being considered by the forum was discriminatory and contravened international treaties which recognised womenfolk and their inalienable rights to political aspirations.
To demonstrate her seriousness, Jubril said the case would be pursued to a logical conclusion.
She said: "I am not in court against Jonathan, who is the presidential candidate of our party. No! Sarah Jubril contested as one of the three candidates of PDP and after the results of the primary were declared, I congratulated Jonathan in the spirit of political sportsmanship. I am therefore a political heroine today, I am a true democrat; I am in politics to rescue the future of Nigerians.
"The case in court is a constitutional issue; I have no personal grievance against Atiku. He has continued to remain a product of constitutional breaches. PDP should have queried the sudden reappearance of Atiku for the presidency after his over two years exit. He should have been given 18 months probation. For me, querying this does not mean I have taken Jonathan to court."
Reflecting on the single vote recorded by her at the PDP presidential primary, she said: "That vote was of me, by me and for me.
"That vote has been seriously pricking the conscience of women, Nigerians, PDP Board of Trustees and the political class. I thank God for not allowing any other vote to cause confusion. I sympathise with the ignorance of the women which is till now affecting the conscience of women in Nigeria.
"Why are the womenfolk trying to use the media to call me serial contestant sarcastically? I have forgiven them. The political class should stop hijacking the conscience of Nigerian women who constitute the engine of the nation."
While blaming her defeat on the National Council of Women Societies, the Ministry of Women Affairs and the PDP women leaders who could not see the import of using the votes of women for a bargaining power despite periodic visits and campaigns, she however said she would remain in PDP despite all odds.
|
February 4, 2011 05:06AM |  print  email   |
One of the presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sarah Jibril, yesterday said she was the only one that voted for herself in the party's primary election held recently, as she blamed her defeat on the National Council of Women Society, Ministry of Women Affairs, and women leaders of the party.
Mrs. Jibril, while reflecting on the single vote recorded by her at the PDP presidential primary at the premises of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, said the single vote will continue to haunt the conscience of the womenfolk and the entire nation
"That vote was of me, by me and for me. That vote has been seriously pricking the conscience of women, Nigerians, PDP Board of Trustees, and the political class. I thank God for not allowing any other vote to cause confusion. I sympathise with the ignorance of the women which is till now affecting the conscience of women in Nigeria.
"Why are the womenfolk trying to use the media to call me a serial contestant sarcastically? I have forgiven them. The political class should stop hijacking the conscience of Nigerian women who constitute the engine of the nation," she said.
Mrs. Jibril is in court against the emergence of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, as the consensus candidate of the North on the platform of Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum.
The former presidential aspirant, who made the clarification against the backdrop of newspaper reports from Kaduna that she had taken PDP to court over Jonathan, said at no time did she sue either the party or Jonathan over the last primary.
Mrs. Jibril explained that she went to court to challenge the emergence of Mr. Atiku as a Northern presidential candidate by the Adamu Ciroma's group because the policy that led to the endorsement was discriminatory against her and the womenfolk.
According to her, as a northerner and a presidential aspirant, she was not screened by the NPLF before arriving at the consensus arrangement. She added that her not being considered by the forum was discriminatory and contravenes treaties which recognise womenfolk and their inalienable rights to political aspirations.
"I am not in court against Jonathan who is the presidential candidate of our party. No! Sarah Jubril contested as one of the three candidates of PDP and after the results of the primary were declared, I congratulated President Jonathan in the spirit of political sportsmanship. I am, therefore, a political heroine today. I am a true democrat; I am in politics to rescue the future of Nigerians.
"The case in court is a constitutional issue; I have no personal grievance against Atiku. He has continued to remain a product of constitutional breaches. PDP should have queried the sudden reappearance of Atiku for the presidency after his over two years exit. He should have been given 18 months probation. For me, querying this does not mean I have taken Jonathan to court," Mrs. Jibril said.
-----------------------------
 Reuben Abati MORE serious attention needs to be paid to the continuing protest by Mrs Sarah Jibril, the female PDP Presidential aspirant who won only one vote during the PDP Presidential primary. Her two opponents: President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Abubakar Atiku won 2,736 and 805 votes respectively. Jibril's courage and heroism have been justly praised, she has doggedly put herself up for Presidential nomination since 1992; her appearance in 2011 was the fifth time she would be asking party delegates to consider her as a candidate for the Presidency. Several commentators have remarked that her failure is partly due to her lack of visibility and organisational structure (she was the least visible of the then three PDP Presidential aspirants) but whatever may have been the limitations of her campaign strategy, Jibril's aspiration and her politics clearly raise fresh concerns about the status of women in Nigerian politics. Before the party primaries on January 13 Sarah Jibril had gone to court to ask that the PDP and its National Chairman should be restrained from presenting Abubakar Atiku as the Presidential candidate of the PDP in the event of his so emerging after the primaries, and that INEC must not recognize him. Jibril's prayer was based on the allegation that the Northern Political Leaders Forum which chose Atiku as the consensus Presidential candidate of the the North, did not even consider her at all. She is equally a Northerner, a PDP Presidential aspirant and she had declared her interest long before the NPLF consensus meeting. She considers herself a victim of male chauvinism and gender discrimination. A few days ago, Jibril made the same claims at the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja. From being a 2011 Presidential aspirant, Mrs Jibril is now carrying the flag of a gender rights activist. Atiku is not her only target, she has also accused the Nigerian womenfolk, the Ministry of Women Affairs, women leaders in the PDP and the National Council of Women's Societies (NCWS) of betraying her. Newspapers had reported previously that the single vote that Mrs Jibril got in Abuja was from a Kwara state female delegate; now Mrs Jibril has disclosed that she was the Kwara delegate who voted for herself: "The vote was of me, by me and for me..." She has every reason to be aggrieved. To be rejected by the male folk and to be so contemptuously treated by PDP women must be really painful for her. When she filed her suit against Atiku, the sharp response from the Atiku camp was as follows: "What is her business in this, except that she is a busy body? Let her find something to do with her time." A busy body is someone who meddles in other people's affairs, an interferer, an intruder who is up to nothing but mischief. Nigerian women constitute more than 50% of the Nigerian population. How then can a bona fide citizen, a woman, who is qualified under the law to express her due rights, be considered a busy body? Nowhere is it stated in the Nigerian Constitution that a woman cannot aspire to the highest office in the land, or that it is right to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of gender or circumstances of birth. The response by the Atiku camp defines the mindset that has triggered years of women activism in Nigerian politics; that a woman seeking interest in the highest political office in the land in 2011 is considered a busy body is a major setback for women's political activity in Nigeria. The attempt to marginalise, de-centre, exclude, and dis-empower the Nigerian woman had been met with stiff resistance by Nigerian womenfolk during the colonial and post-colonial eras; the gains of which can be measured in terms of the historicisation of women's political struggle and the existence of icons and activities related to the rebellion of Nigerian women. Some of the signposts in this respect would include, the influence of the erelu, the iyaloja, and the iyalode in Yoruba traditional administration, the role of women in certain traditional cults and societies, Madam Tinubu and the influence of market women in public administration, the emergence of Madam Okwei as a member of the Onitsha native court in 1912, the role of women in the protest against colonial domination, the Aba Women's riots of 1929, the self-assertion of Egba women during the centenary celebrations of Abeokuta in 1930, the Egba women's rebellion against traditional autocracy led by Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Others in this tradition include Madam Pelewura, Mrs Charlottee Olajumoke Obasa, Madam Ekpo Young, Mrs Alice Okon, Mrs Margaret Ekpo, Mrs Janet Mokelu, Mrs Esther Soyannwo, Hajia Sawaba Sambo (of the Northern Elements Progressive Union), Hajia Mairo Yarkankarda (of Northern People's Congress), Miss Adunni Oluwole (founder of the Nigerian Commoners Party); Mrs Elizabeth Adeyemi Adekogbe of the Ibadan Women's Movement, Mary Ededem, Bernice Kerry, Margaret Ikokwu, the Nigerian Women's Union, the Federation of Nigerian Women's Societies, the National Council of Women, National Council of Women's Societies. Lady Kofoworola Ademola, Wuraola Esan, Mrs A. Ogunsheye, Lady Oyinkan Abayomi, Hannah Otudor etc. These examples, outlined not necessarily in the order of historical weight, all highlight attempts by Nigerian women for more than a century to gain a voice not as busy bodies but as legitimate stakeholders in Nigerian politics, and in many ways, their efforts have resulted in increased representation in public life and some degree of achievement in allied complexes such as the education of the girl-child, female genital mutilation, widowhood rites, the inheritance rights of women and all such cultural and social practices which reinforce the inferiorisation of women. In 1982, a left-leaning women's rights group was established by a group of academics and activists known as Women in Nigeria (WIN) drawing its membership from both male and female ranks. WIN was motivated by a development agenda targeted at the dislodgment of discriminatory patriarchy, the promotion of democracy and human rights and the mobilisation of Nigerian women for empowerment in the public space as well as increased role in the economic and political emancipation of Nigeria. By 1997 however, WIN had become a victim of the same conditions which made it possible for Sarah Jibril to receive only one vote out of 3, 548: gender conflict, male chauvinism, and to borrow from Mrs. Jibril, "the ignorance of women." The failure of WIN, the gerontocratic spasms of the National Council of Women's Societies (NCWS), the NGO-nisation and nepotisation of the women's struggle in Nigerian politics have combined to effectuate the Sarah Jibril experience. But the sad outcomes arrived in small doses over time. Just as 1999 marked a turning point in Nigerian politics, it also did for the women's movement. Before the 1999 elections, women political groups led by the likes of Professor Jadesola Akande, Keziah Awosika, Nkoyo Toyo, Eka Williams, Glory Kilanko and others had tried to draw up a women's political agenda and set up a political party for women. A woman's political party did not get registered, but between 1999 and 2007, there was increased representation of women in politics/public life due to organised pressures. This contemporary group of women political activists drew much strength from the 1995 UN Beijing Declaration on Women, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women which had changed the texture of the politics of women empowerment worldwide. In 1953, Mrs Remi Aiyedun became the first woman member of a legislature in West Africa, in 1955, Mrs Oyinkan Abayomi was appointed to the Western House of Assembly, Mrs Margaret Ekpo became a member of the Eastern House of Assembly in 1953/54, Mrs Mokelu and Mrs Ekpo became members of the Eastern Region House of Chiefs in 1955, Mrs Young joined the Eastern House of Assembly in 1961, Between 1960 and 1964, Mrs Wuraola Esan, (AG, Ibadan) was a member of the Federal Senate; in 1964, Mrs Bernice Kerry representing the Mid-West, also joined the Senate. Military rule interrupted the growth of women's presence in Nigerian politics, although women participated in all the political transitions organized by the military. During the Second Republic (1979 -1983), Mrs Oyibo Odinamadu became the first woman to serve as National Vice President of the UPN; Mrs Franca Afegbua became the very first elected Senator; the two others before her (Esan and Kerry), were appointed. In 1990, the NCWS worked hard to mobliise women for Third Republic elections. By 1991, Mrs Remi Adiukwu put herself up as a Gubernatorial aspirant in Lagos state and came second in the primaries; in 1992, Sarah Jibril showed up for the first time as NRC Presidential aspirant; another woman, Mrs Durin-Braimah (SDP) also showed interest in the Presidency, but did not contest the primaries whereas Sarah Jibril did. There were 27 women in the House of Assembly out of 1172, 13 women in the House of Representatives out of 593, and one woman out of 93 Senators. Twelve women took part in the gubernatorial primaries. Two deputy Governors emerged (Kano and Cross River state). Between 1999 and 2007, more women played principal roles in Nigerian public life and politics. In 1999, there was a female deputy Governor in Lagos state (Kofo Bucknor-Akerele), three women in the Senate out of a total of 109; 12 women in the House of Representatives out of 360; 12 women and 978 men in 36 state Houses of Assembly, one female speaker of the House of Assembly in Benue, and 143 women and 8,657 men as councilors. In his first terms, Obasanjo appointed six women ministers and 45 male Ministers. Between 2003 and 2007, more women were appointed into public positions at both federal and state levels. As at 2010, many of the political parties including the ruling People's Democratic Party had resolved to increase the percentage of women representation even if the women's lobby for affirmative action and proportional representation did not form part of the 2010/2011 Constitutional amendments. But why didn't increased women representation in politics and particularly in the PDP translate into more than one vote for Sarah Jibril? The PDP not only waived registration fees for female candidates within the party, it directed during the Gubernatorial primaries that its three delegates per ward formula must include at least one woman from every ward. For the PDP presidential primaries, the delegates included one delegate per local government and the six councils of the FCT, all PDP members of the National Assembly and the state Assemblies, and all state Executive councils of the party. A rough calculation of this may amount to about a third of the total number of delegates being women and yet Sarah Jibril was the only person that voted for herself! There is in every state branch of the PDP, a women's wing and a woman's leader. There is at the Federal level, a woman's leader of the party and the Minister of Women's Affairs who is now spearheading a "Nigerian women at 50 " colloquium (February 8, 2011. The latter is a member of the PDP and erstwhile women's leader of the party. Yet, all these women did not mobilise support for Sarah Jibril! Why? Women in politics are not necessarily driven by development agenda but selfish interests. They use the gender envelope to advance personal goals, which may be visibility/relevance or access to donor funding. Two, many of the women in politics are in public positions not because they merit them, but because they have been put there by their husbands, parents, or Godfathers. In that wise, they are agents of male domination, and not flagbearers of women empowerment. Three, women politicians are just as corrupt as male politicians. Sarah Jibril was perhaps not considered viable enough for votes because she did not distribute any largesse, she did not pay anyone's transport or hotel bills; she was merely appealing to good sense which is in short supply in Nigerian politics. Four, Nigerian politics is not driven by principles. No woman among the PDP delegates was willing to vote for conscience and principle because that would amount to wasting the vote. Five, it may be that the women were under pressure to vote as directed, again a reflection of the totalitarianism of male-dominated politics. Six, the Nigerian woman in politics today is obsessed with ceremony rather than substance. If women in politics refuse to support their own and build on the kind of successes that have been recorded by women in the professions; indeed if Nigerian women fail to use their votes to make a statement, it would be a long time indeed before a woman can win election as Governor or President in Nigeria. That may be the least cost however to be paid. In 1999, one Mrs Lami Sadu was divorced for having the effrontery to vote for the All People's Party against her husband's wish. She died in a motor accident after a family meeting to resolve the dispute. In Jan. 2011, Hajia Halima Tijjani (ACN, Kaduna Central) was battered and her elbow broken for daring to contest! Seven, and finally, the real problem is with the hypocrisy of the backward male elite in Nigerian politics which considers every woman seeking a role in public life, a "busybody". |
------------------------------------------------------------
Leadership
How Did I Offend Nigerian Women? —Sarah Jibril
Mrs Sarah Jibril, four time presidential aspirant, has asked Nigerian women why she was left to vote for herself in the PDP primary. She spoke to Ruth Choji-Tafida.
You had only one vote during the PDP primarily elections, what could have led to that?
The climax of the whole thing was that I, Sarah Jibril, voted for myself to produce the only vote that I got. What I noticed was that the usual fanfare that surrounds primaries was not there! where you have the aspirant displaying their banners and mingling with the delegates, was not there. Knowing that, my banner that was well displayed, way away from any public distraction but was removed by the security agents was painful. My fliers were disallowed and I wondered why. There were only three of us contending, why was there so much discrimination? The thing was so strait jacketed, everybody was mute, but we had to wait through the tension. Thank God I had my vote, and that one vote is speaking to the conscience of a lot of people.
There have been calls for women to vote for women, so what went wrong in your case?
Apparently I think that it was out of ignorance. If they knew better they would have strategised better and done better. When the party seemed to be angry I said they did not do their home work well, I asked them what they told the women, when they call themselves the largest party in Africa, did they know the number of women in the party? Are they aware the image Nigeria has as a signatory to the convention, treaties, and protocols of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and at the African Union that has declared that this decade is the decade for African women? Nigeria is also the one of the sponsors of the ECOWAS protocol. How many millions of dollars has Nigeria spent by going to Mexico in 1975 with the largest contingent, to Prussia in 1985, to Beijing in 1985 and even to New York in 2005? Nigeria has spent money on Better Life, WOTCLEF, FEAP, MAMSER, Girl Child and created the ministry of women affairs, and allowing women to have positions. It is the PDP that has handled the ministry of women affairs. The present minister of women affairs was a women leader for eight years, the present women leader of the PDP was a former minister of women affairs. Did they ever see me as what PDP is supposed to represent? The ideology of power is developmental, social and everything to the people. Did they not know that I was bringing in all these values, signatures that Nigeria has put into the presidential race? I was the chairperson of Political Awareness Task Force, and I got that title after I contested in 1993 against Chief Abiola and the rest, where I came fourth. I also wrote to the NCWS, before I went there personally, to explain my vision and mission for Nigeria, I invited them to my flag off press conference and they were represented. Up till now. I have not received the acknowledgement of that letter, and even if I hadn't gone there, couldn't they have called me, since I was the only woman contesting that position? It means they didn't value what I was doing. Nigeria helped destabilise Liberia, and we also helped to stabilised Sirleaf Johnson. I spoke with women, children and others that, a vote for a woman today will be our bargaining chip tomorrow, a lot of men were telling the women 'vote for your own, so that you can use that to bargain'. My mission is to rescue Nigeria from criminality, poverty and the shackles of bad leadership. My name is Sarah, mother of the nation and I am asking God to give me that grace to deliver this nation. The press has not helped matters because they have been saying that I contested serially. Have they not heard about Abraham Lincoln, who contested eleven times? He persisted because he had a vision for America and he eventually got the ticket, so because I have a mission to salvage Nigeria I have been contesting and I won't stop until our situation changes. I am a credible person. That is why PAC chose me as its presidential candidate. I am a credible person, that is why I came third in 1993 and if I wasn't a credible person, the screening committee would not have cleared me. What offence have I committed against the women of Nigeria? They should tell me so that I will know? They should check my record right from when I was a commissioner, right from when I was chairman, governing council, and all the other positions I have held in the past. Nigerian women should tell me what I have done wrong and how I have misrepresented them that made them afraid to vote for me.
There were reports that governors forced their state delegates to vote for specific candidates. What is your take on that?
I wouldn't know because I was minding my business, but what baffles me was that it was not all the states that were contesting elections, why were there thirty –seven boxes? Why would the governors more or less hold everybody by the neck? They didn't put our pictures,
Is it true that you lost because you didn't have money to spent around like the other candidates?
It wasn't the money, I didn't have money but some well wishers, including men and women, contributed money for me to buy my form, they contributed money for the campaign. All the people that worked with me were volunteers. Even the press made it to look like it was only president Goodluck Jonathan and Atiku Abubakar that were contesting. Alhaji Atiku, who left the party, bad mouthed the party and came back to contest the presidency, when even the constitution of the party says that if you leave the party and come back, you have to be under probation for eighteen months.
What is your relationship with the president now and has he tried in any way to integrate you into their campaign?
Of course it is cordial. During the campaign I sent a message to him, that it is not a personal thing, but let him understand that I am not against him, In the spirit of sportsmanship, I congratulated him at the Eagle Square. After that he gave me an appointment. I went to the house but we couldn't talk because there were many people there. If PDP were to apply wisdom then they would find a way of bringing us together. They will need my face on the campaign ground so that our critics will know that if Sarah Jibril, after all she has been through, can still believe and stay with the party, then something good is happening there.
Do you think Nigeria is ready for a female president?
Nigeria has been ready since 1993. If not why did the men vote for me? And if it was not for the manipulation I was supposed to be the vice president of Chief Moshood Abiola. So Nigeria has been long ripe for a female president who believes Nigeria is teachable, transformable and adaptable. If we must nurture Nigeria back to sanity, then Nigerian women must arise. When I was in PAC, the PDP gave me an award for indomitable character and now that I am in the party, nobody voted for me. I don't know why I am being mocked, have I been a source of embarrassment to the PDP? Why are they treating me this way? Ask them and also ask the women what I have done to them, have I brought shame to womanhood in Nigeria? Everywhere I go, I try to work with integrity, so why am I being mocked? If there is something I have done that I am not aware of I think they should tell me so that it can be corrected, Nigerian women should stop encouraging the political class to criminalise Nigeria.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment