Women Political Appointments and the National Gender Policy’s Affirmative Action in Nigeria: A Case Study of Kaduna State (2015-2023)

Abstract

_{Affirmative action for women is a positive policy for gender mainstreaming into politics and decision-making process. There are several women friendly international treaties to which many countries—including Nigeria—are signatories. These treaties stipulate, among others, that women are to be allotted certain percentage in all appointments and elective positions in both public and private sectors. This is to ensure that women become more visible in politics and governance. Presence of women in politics is increasingly becoming a yardstick to measure levels of democratization and sustainability of democracy. Thus, Nigerian Government came up with its National Gender Policy (NGP) which allots 35% to women in all appointments. However, women are still being marginalized in Nigerian politics due to the age-long notion that the public domain is not for women. Using Kaduna State as a case study vis-a-vis women political appointment and leadership in governance, this paper assesses the National Gender Policy’s affirmative action and its challenges in Nigeria with focus on Kaduna State. Its approach is both qualitative and quantitative. Though women in Kaduna State fared better within the timeframe of the study in terms of political appointments and leadership roles, findings revealed that women affirmative action was not implemented as widely believed. It concludes that unless women affirmative action is enshrined in the Constitution, its implementation would continue to be subject to governmental discretion on gender issues. This study recommends, among others, constitutionally backed affirmative action to facilitate women political appointment.}