#GEJAchievements in Women Empowerment

Empowering Women
More than any other Nigerian leader in recent memory, President Jonathan has done very well for Nigerian women. He has tremendously improved on the record of former presidents in involving women and empowering them by acting on an official policy of progressively increasing the percentage of women in positions of authority in government to 35 per cent.

Women in Government and Leadership Positions
At the last count, the Jonathan administration has employed three female Justices in the Supreme Court; 16 female heads of ministries; nine female special advisers; 12 female permanent secretaries, 26 female heads of federal government parastals; 29 female federal commissioners; 16 female heads of federal tertiary institutions; four female representatives in international multi-lateral organizations and 12 female ambassadors and high commissioners.

Women Empowerment: A Cycle Broken
Under this government, women are now admitted to the Nigerian Defence Academy, a taboo even under Obasanjo. This leaves women with the opportunity to serve their nation side-by-side with the men.

Women Empowerment: National Gender Policy
Under the Jonathan administration that Nigerian women have attained the highest level of participation in the nation’s social, political and economic life. President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda contains a National Gender Policy which it mainstreams into all aspects of government planning and development.

A major component of that policy is women empowerment in politics. Here, there has been a remarkable success in the creation of awareness on the participation of women in politics. Not only has a Political Trust Fund been established to provide support to women aspirants willing to participate in general elections, a database of women political aspirants has also been created.

The implementation of Jonathan’s Gender Policy has also resulted in an increase in women’s representation in Government from 10% in 2011 to over 33% 2013, with the appointment of 13 female Ministers out of 42, representing 31% and 4 Special Advisers out of 18, representing 23%. These appointments have set the stage for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target number three on Gender Equity and Women Empowerment.

Women Empowerment: Women in Business
Two micro-credit schemes have been set up to assist women: (1) the Women Fund for Economic Empowerment (WOFEE), in collaboration with the Bank of Agriculture and the State Governments and (2) the Business Development Fund for Women (BUDFOW), in collaboration with the Bank of Industry.

The two schemes are revolving facilities with an interest rate of 10%. In addition to these efforts, 77 skills acquisition centres have been constructed and equipped across the country to increase income generation, through job creation, for women, especially at the grassroots level.

A recent research, conducted and published in a book, titled Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Champion for Women, shows that Nigeria was 23rd out of 188 countries studied, in terms of women mobilisation, appointment into positions, participation in governance and women empowerment.

Women Empowerment: Job Creation
The Community Service, Women and Youth Employment Programme (CSWYE) creates short-term work programmes for vulnerable populations including underprivileged women, youth and people living with disabilities through labour intensive public works projects. Programme beneficiaries are employed in community development services such as cleaning the drains, assisting in traffic control, etc. The programme aims to create 370,000 jobs annually, with a minimum of 30 percent of the spaces reserved for women. SURE-P records show that the scheme has so far created about 119,000 jobs across the country, of which about 41,137 are women.

Women Empowerment: The Role of the First Lady
The President is married to a remarkable woman, Dame Patience Jonathan, who is endowed with some of the greatest human attributes and who is a natural mobilizer of women. The President has, in his private and public life, benefitted immensely from his wife’s virtues. It is generally acknowledged, for instance, that it was Dame Jonathan’s mobilisation efforts that secured Jonathan the massive votes of Nigerian women during the 2011 Presidential election.

The 2011 experience was enough for Jonathan to consolidate his faith in the qualities of Nigerian women. He did not entertain any doubt whatsoever about their character, capacity and competence in playing any role in the land, whether political, technical or administrative. That is the reason behind Jonathan’s Policy of Gender Equality and why, as some Nigerians would say “the President has surrounded himself with women and entrusted them with some of the most critical and sensitive positions.”

With her project, "Women For Change Initiative", she is seeking to make Life better for women in the country and totally restore the dignity of womanhood. She has lent her voice to the actualization of the 35% affirmative action for women in Nigeria, thus advocating more women in governance.

With her pet project, Women for Change Initiative, Dame Patience Jonathan, widely seen as an Apostle of women empowerment, continued the journey started by previous First Ladies into an era befitting of the Nigerian Woman.

She has struggled relentlessly to awaken and empower the Nigerian woman through her various summits, programmes, enlightenment and sensitisation campaigns, including ensuring that women in politics in the country are constitutionally recognised as stakeholders, She canvassed in several fora that women should be given more opportunities to contribute to the development of the country.

Women Empowerment: Well-placed Presidential Confidence
President Jonathan’s confidence in Nigerian women has not been misplaced. Some of his administration’s greatest achievements, since he came into office, have been in Ministries, Parastatals and Departments manned by women.

The person who has been working hard to ensure this resilience of the national economy is a woman, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance.

President Jonathan’s administration, in the history of Nigeria, has given the greatest opportunities to women and youths to express themselves.

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