Chukwu Obinna 
ONDO, Nigeria – Lawmakers in Nigeria’s National Assembly have been urged to pass the long-debated bill seeking reserved parliamentary seats for women, amid renewed warnings that the nation’s democratic institutions no longer reflect the population they serve.
The call was made by Mrs. Olabisi Omolona, State Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE), UN Women Ondo Chapter, during a media briefing in Akure on Friday as part of the 2025 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.
Mrs. Omolona described Nigeria’s political imbalance as a fundamental democratic failure, noting that women constitute over half of the nation’s population yet occupy fewer than five per cent of legislative positions.
“Women are good enough to vote, mobilise votes, and support political structures, but somehow not deemed good enough to sit in legislative chambers where laws which shape their lives are being drafted,” she said.
She labelled the exclusion as “structural violence”, urging lawmakers to treat the proposed gender-inclusion bill as an urgent corrective tool capable of restructuring decades-long inequality.
The GEWE coordinator emphasised that passing the bill would unlock equitable representation for women across Ondo State’s South, North and Central senatorial districts. She highlighted the positive influence greater female participation would have on policymaking in areas such as maternal health, education, economic empowerment and gender-based violence prevention.
Citing global findings, she noted that parliaments with strong female representation tend to enact laws that promote peace, child welfare, educational progress, public health and economic stability.
“Let history remember this generation of lawmakers as the generation that rescued Nigeria’s democracy from imbalance and inequality,” she urged.
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