Ogona Anita
The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Rivers State has asked women not to boycott the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections because of their disappointment with INEC in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The association gave the charge during the commemoration of this year’s International women’s Day celebration.
NAWOJ maintains that what INEC displayed in the Presidential and National Assembly elections was enough to discourage women from participating in the March 11 elections adding that women in their quest for a better society came out in their numbers on 25th of February 2023 only for INEC to mess up the process.
The association described women as dogged and resilient pointing out that despite the troubles associated with scarcity of fuel and naira in the country they still out numbered men in most polling units regretting that INEC failed in its responsibility to carry out a credible electoral exercise.
The association further commended the women for not taking their anger and disappointment to the streets and enjoined them to use March 11 election as an opportunity to make statement in the country’s electoral process.
NAWOJ reminded women that not participating in the Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections will amount to disenfranchising themselves as well as denying their candidates the opportunity to win their respective positions.
Rivers NAWOJ sees this year’s International Women’s Day celebration as a wake up call for all women to team up in unity and in one accord to ensure that competent and gender sensitive people are voted into power.
” With your active participation, you can decide who leads you in the next 4 years, the time to get the change you want politically is now, the time to vote the candidates of your choice is now”.
Rivers NAWOJ strongly believes that when women are part of the electoral processes, growth and development are guaranteed stressing that one of the surest ways women can get the change they earnestly desire is by exercising their civic responsibilities .
It urged women to use the commemoration of this year’s International Women’s Day to fully embrace equity adding that equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, but a must-have even as it is critical to understand the difference between equity and equality.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day celebration is #EmbraceEquity .
Signed
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
Chairperson, Rivers State NAWOJ
Ngozi Anosike Ph.D
Secretary
8th March,2023
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