The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ says it is retrogressive and a tragedy in the development space of the country and the eye of the global community, the rejection of the five gender bills by the National Assembly.
NAWOJ National President Ladi Bala in a statement issued on the International Women’s Day, expressed displeasure over the rejection of the five gender bills that speak to the issues against women, especially discrimination and exclusion from participation in governance and contribution to nation building.
She also observed that history would have been made by the 9th Assembly had the legislature allowed the true definition of democracy to take its roots in Nigeria.
Ladi lamented that the members chose the path of exclusion and discriminatory agenda against Nigerian women and girls. According to her, no nation that excludes more than 50 percent of a segment of its demography can develop as expected.
The NAWOJ National President however appealed to members of the federal legislature, as a matter of urgency and in the interest of the spirit and letters of democracy, to discard their earlier posture and allow for the gender bills to be re-represented and passed into law.
