Ah, Nigeria, the land where politics is not just politics—it’s an action-packed Nollywood thriller, a Yoruba demon love triangle, an Igbo trader’s shrewd business deal, and a Hausa-Fulani kingmaker’s silent but deadly strategy all rolled into one. And here we are in Rivers State, watching Wike vs. Fubara, the political remix of Aki and Pawpaw fight for supremacy, except this time, there are real power plays at stake.

Oh Wike, you thought it was over? That your Abuja judges, including those Supreme Court justices, did all the heavy lifting for you? That once the Supreme Court confirmed Martin Amaewhule as the rightful Speaker, Fubara would just gree? Ha! Oga, this is Nigeria! Nobody gree for anybody! Fubara has the state courts, and he just played his hand like a proper Lagos big boy dodging rent payments.

The Supreme Court ruling must have felt like the final whistle to Wike’s camp. They probably popped champagne, thinking the game was over. “We got him!” they must have cheered, the way an Abuja politician celebrates after winning party primaries by spraying crisp mint Naira notes. But wait—did anyone remind them that Rivers State still has its own judiciary? Because while Wike’s loyal Assembly was flexing their new Supreme Court-backed power, Fubara’s commissioners and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC) chairman, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd), decided to show them that ‘Port Harcourt no be Lagos’. They walked straight into the state court and slapped them with a lawsuit like an Igbo trader demanding full payment. Their demand? A court order blocking the Assembly from interfering with their appointments and duties. And guess what? The state court gave it to them like a market woman selling fresh akara at dawn.

Now, Wike’s Assembly had been on a power trip, issuing a 48-hour ultimatum to Fubara to submit a fresh list of commissioners and the 2025 budget. They outright rejected the 19 commissioners he appointed, claiming they weren’t properly confirmed. But here’s the problem—Fubara never officially received their ultimatum, at least according to him. “Oh, you sent me a letter? Omo, no be me you send am. My bad, I must have missed it between all these court cases and political backstabbing.” Classic Lagos ‘soft work’ excuse. Meanwhile, Amaewhule and his lawmakers, feeling invincible, summoned the RISIEC chairman to explain why he dared to conduct an election that the Supreme Court nullified. Their plan was clear: strip Fubara of all authority and make him a governor in name only—like those ‘Instagram big men’ whose accounts are louder than their bank balance.

But Fubara, the real Port Harcourt first son, no dey carry last. His commissioners took their fight to the Rivers State High Court, arguing that the Assembly had no power to overturn their appointments. And oh, the irony—while Wike used the judiciary against Fubara in Abuja, Fubara just used the judiciary in Port Harcourt against Wike’s lawmakers. The court didn’t just grant the commissioners permission to serve the lawsuit—it ordered them to do it by pasting it on the gates of the Assembly Quarters. Imagine the lawmakers walking into work, only to see legal documents plastered like ‘house for rent’ signs in Ajegunle. How dare you, Amaewhule & Co.! You thought this would be a walk in the park? My brother, this is not Buga dance, this is survival!

Oh, and now that this is going on, that budget presentation just became an impossible mission. The Assembly had already warned Fubara to submit the 2025 budget, but how can he do that now? His Finance Commissioner, Emmanuel Frank-Fubara, can’t give him anything to present because the state court has frozen all actions related to the commissioners. The Assembly wanted to force Fubara’s hand, but now, they’re stuck too—no budget, no governance, just lawsuits flying like election campaign flyers. The Supreme Court may have put its stamp on Wike’s team, but the state court just locked down the treasury faster than EFCC chasing Yahoo boys.

This is where it gets even funnier. The Supreme Court had backed Wike’s Assembly, but now, Fubara has the local referees on his side. The game is now being played on two courts—the federal court and the state court. While Wike thought he had completely neutralized Fubara’s authority, he forgot that politics isn’t just about who controls Abuja. It’s about who controls the home front. Fubara, rather than fold, just turned Rivers State’s legal system into his own shield—like a proper Yoruba demon dodging relationship commitment.

So what happens next? Will Wike go running back to the Supreme Court for another ruling? Will he start searching for what is now known as the “Abuja Judge” to perform another legal miracle? Well, guess what? The law is clear—Abuja judges have no jurisdiction over state and local matters. Maybe the Supreme Court will find a way around that? Sorry, nop! Wike’s legal magic has hit a wall, and Fubara just dug in his trenches, like a proper Niger Delta militant waiting for government amnesty.

Will Fubara keep using the state judiciary as a roadblock to legislative interference? Will the lawmakers simply pretend they didn’t see the lawsuit pasted on their gate? And most importantly—who will dare to present the budget now? One thing’s for sure—this Rivers State saga is far from over. Wike thought the Supreme Court had sealed the deal, but Fubara just reminded him that governance isn’t won in a courtroom alone. The battle continues, and Naija people, we dey here for the drama! Grab your popcorn, your zobo, your suya—this one go long!

The Real Lesson: Nigeria’s Democracy is at a Crossroads

At the heart of all this political chess and courtroom battles is a deeper Nigerian problem—the rule of man over the rule of law. Every institution in this fight—whether it’s the Supreme Court, the Rivers State Judiciary, the House of Assembly, or the Governor’s office—has been dragged into a game of power and self-interest. Where is democracy in all of this?

Nigeria must learn that a politicized judiciary, a compromised legislature, and self-serving politicians do not grow democracy—they destroy it. When institutions serve personal ambitions rather than the people, democracy becomes an illusion, and governance becomes nothing more than a battlefield for the biggest political godfather. This is why states like Rivers continue to struggle with real governance, while their leaders play legal gymnastics.

The Senate, the judiciary, the executive, and the legislature must function as independent democratic bodies, not as extensions of one man’s political empire. Nigeria cannot grow if every election turns into a court case, if every political disagreement leads to power plays, and if every institution bends to the will of politicians rather than the constitution.

The lesson from Rivers State is clear—until we remove the rule of man and embrace the rule of law, until our judiciary stops being a political tool, until our lawmakers remember they serve the people, not their godfathers, Nigeria’s democracy will remain a fragile joke.

So while we all enjoy the drama, let’s not forget the real question: when will Nigeria stop being a political movie and start being a real democracy? Until then, grab your popcorn, your zobo, and your suya—this one go long.

The politics of who gets a seat or where you sit is as old as politics itself. From the wars that have been fought on who sits on the throne to our traditions on who gets a seat in the “inner council”, is simply a tale as old as time. In every level of society, where you sit is not only significant but symbolic for representation, voice and presence. One of the biggest and successful bus boycotts in the history of the Civil Rights movement that challenged and led to the end of Segregation laws in the city of Alabama in the United States of America began with a seat. A soft-spoken woman, Rosa Parks, who was just tired and wanted to sit and rest while riding the bus, refused to give up a seat because of a segregation law.

The success and power of the Montgomery bus boycott, which changed a status quo which is referenced today, all started with a seat. It is therefore not surprising that in 2025 in Nigeria, the agitation of distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan over her seat allocation in the senate has brought back attention to important conversations ranging from a political system that excludes women and silences women to a bigger conversation on sexual harassment.

Can a senator be sexually harassed or abused by a fellow senator? Yes. Is an allegation of sexual harassment in the national assembly new? No. Anyone who thinks otherwise obviously exists on another planet and is complicit in abuse. Sexual abuse and sexual harassment are both gendered and power-based and are constantly wielded as a weapon to silence, exclude and undermine women in politics and different spheres of life. For clarity, sexual harassment is a form of gender-based violence, and it can manifest in different forms.

Sexual harassment can be as subtle as making unwelcome sexual and physical advances or sexual innuendos/comments to a woman, which others may find amusing, except the recipient of the comments. It ranges from sharing unwanted nudes and pornography to extending unwanted invitations that indicate ulterior motives, whispering lewd jokes and invading the intimate private space of a woman. It is also as embarrassing as improper comments about a woman’s looks, body or dress and the unwanted touching of bodily parts of a woman.

While both men and women are victims of sexual harassment, women are more vulnerable to sexual harassment because it is power-based and enabled by persisting gender inequality. As noted by the World Bank, “Gender-based violence is one of the most oppressive forms of gender inequality, posing a fundamental barrier to the equal participation for women and men in social, economic and political spheres.”

In addressing gender-based violence, a serious institution, people and country will; 1) respect the complaint of the person who experienced the harassment 2) provide a safe space for report, 3) investigate the report as a pathway to justice 4) ensure the accused is not the judge in the case in line with the principles of natural justice and, 5) punish perpetrators. This should be the major approach to allegations of sexual harassment at all levels.

For a senate created by the constitution and bound by its safeguards for fundamental human rights, playing politics and technicalities with a petition on sexual harassment disregards the constitution. Now the misconceptions; that a man loves his wife, daughter, and sisters does not mean he cannot be an abuser or harasser.

It’s just like saying that a thief won’t rob you because he has a brother or sister like you. That other women did not speak up does not mean that one who speaks up is lying; we all have different levels of courage. Lastly, historically, women in politics who face abuse do not speak up to avoid losing political capital or being victimised. The silence and acceptance of bad behaviour as a norm in politics has enabled impunity and bold abusers using their power to silence the few who dare to speak.

Nigeria, let us talk about the politics of exclusion and victimisation.

Nigeria’s journey to democracy was a hard-fought battle that was sustained by the resilience and unwavering spirit of men and women who believed in freedom and democracy. The transition to democracy in 1999 brought new hope to a nation that had been battered by men in uniform and had been silenced for too long. The ballot signified the power of the people to choose their leaders and the birth of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy. Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, with its imperfections, perfectly enunciates Nigeria as a country to be governed on the principles of freedom, equality and justice. Section 14 of the Constitution establishes Nigeria as a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice.

However, in the almost 26 years of democracy, Nigeria has been consistently and conspicuously deprived of the benefits of representation of women in government at all levels, violating a basic principle of democracy. Women’s representation is a democratic rights issue because the exclusion of women is silencing women’s voices in political decisions. This prolonged exclusion has created a political ecosystem where sexual abuse and harassment of women have persisted, been excused, condoned and most times treated with levity.

Nigeria is still one of the poor-performing countries when it comes to political empowerment. The 2024 Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum ranked Nigeria 136 of the 146 countries surveyed when it comes to closing the gender gap in political empowerment. With only 17 female legislators of the 360 legislators in the house of representatives and 4 female senators of the 109 senators elected in 2023, it is an injustice to treat allegations of sexual harassment with levity. Women in Nigeria are fighting both systemic exclusion and cultural and religious bias against female leadership. Nigeria cannot afford to ignore the call for safe spaces for women in both elective and appointive offices.

This is particularly important with the emergence of younger women in politics who are informed, aware of their rights and not limited by the fears of the oppressive hands of patriarchy. The national assembly is a place for the serious business of representation, law-making and oversight that requires competence, vibrancy, innovation, and experience. None of these are mutually exclusive, which is why we cannot tolerate the abuse of power and/or sexual harassment being used against existing and emerging leaders in the national assembly.

With the evolution of labour law, more companies, institutions, and places of work are introducing safeguarding policies. Nigeria’s national assembly and all government institutions, as a matter of urgency, need a safeguarding policy that properly provides a framework for the prevention of and protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

The national assembly remains the hub of our democracy, and protecting legislators, staff and citizens who work and interact with the Institution from abuse, harassment and exploitation should be at the core of the assembly. In March, which is dedicated to recommitting the world to efforts geared at promoting the rights of women and girls, the Nigerian senate has an opportunity to show Nigerian women that they do not hate women.

Cynthia Mbamalu is a human and gender rights advocate and the director of programmes at Yiaga Africa

The 2024 report, the 18th edition of the Global Gender Gap Index, benchmarked gender parity across 146 economies, providing a basis for the analysis of gender parity developments across two-thirds of the world’s economies. As an African, I was super delighted to see Namibia at number eight and South Africa at number 18. Two African countries, one in the global top 10 and another in the global top 20! This is something to celebrate and a call to understudy why they ranked so high. Other African countries that featured in the top 50 are Rwanda at  number 39, Liberia at number 42 and Eswatini at number 47.

Happy International Women’s Day 2025 to all readers! March 8th, the globally designated International Women’s Day (IWD), a holiday celebrated annually to focus on issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, violence and abuse against women is here again. The 2025 theme is “Accelerate Action” and highlights the urgent need to drive gender equality through bold, decisive actions, rather than slow progress. Thus, my motivation for writing this article, with performance improvement and transformation thinking.

Introduction

I am a female leader with personal identity and orientation of a global citizen, proudly African of Nigerian extraction, and firm belief in the wholesome value of humanity, in general, for development and societal sustainability, based on goodwill and purpose. As such, this article will highlight the context within which the IWD emerged, some emerging empirical data, and proffer some suggestions for consideration, based on continental practice benchmarks. I also believe in collective action – at the individual, family unit, institutional, national and continental levels. This because from where I sit as an international consultant, who has had the privilege of participating in two of the African Peer Review Mechanism’s (APRM) Country Review Missions (CRMs) of two countries in Africa’s Southern region and function as the CEO of the Africa Private Sector Summit with other continental exposures, there are commendable practices to glean from, for systemic continental improvement. Therefore, like Fareed Zakaria of CNN’s Global Public Square (GPS) magazine programme would say, ‘Lets get started’!

Contextual Background

In announcing the theme for IWD2025, internationalwomensday.com asked us to all imagine a gender equal world; a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination; a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive; a world where difference is valued and celebrated. It therefore calls for gender equality and collectively #AccelerateAction. Then the big question – Is this possible in Africa, as we progress in our aspirations for the Africa we want (Agenda2063)?  History has it that IWD has been around for over a hundred years, as have many of the issues globally still impacting women’s advancement. We may recall that Vladimir Lenin declared 8 March as IWD in 1922 to honour the women’s role in 1917 Russian Revolution; it was subsequently celebrated on that date by the socialist movement and communist countries. The IWD holiday became a mainstream global holiday, following its promotion by the United Nations in 1977.

Another important milestone on the subject of this article to consider, is the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, which flagged 12 key areas where urgent action was needed to ensure greater equality and opportunities for women and men, girls and boys. It also laid out concrete ways for countries to bring about change. The Beijing conference built on political agreements reached at three previous global conferences on women, and consolidated five decades of legal advances aimed at securing the equality of women with men in law and in practice. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995 was unanimously adopted by 189 countries as an agenda for women’s empowerment that is now considered the key global policy document on gender equality. The big question: Now three decades post-Beijing Conference of 1995, how have African countries progressed on protocols acceded to in 1995?

In preparation for Beijing +30 Status for Africa, the African Union, with support of the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa, facilitated a Beijing +30 Review Ministerial Consultative Expert Group Meeting on 6 November in Addis Ababa, in preparation of the 69^th session of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW) to be held from 10-21 March. The meeting led to a published resolution, which concluded that ‘different measures need to be adopted as implementation accelerators for proposed actions to yield impact at scale. The most important are stakeholders’ commitments, strengthening grassroots women and girls movements, the existence of strong institutions, and particularly Africa’s ownership of the implementation process by putting in place all necessary measures, including financing these actions with Africa’s own resources’.

In terms of global benchmarks, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) annually benchmarks the state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. Since launching in 2006, it is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous economies’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time. The 2024 report, the 18th edition of the Global Gender Gap Index, benchmarked gender parity across 146 economies, providing a basis for the analysis of gender parity developments across two-thirds of the world’s economies. As an African, I was super delighted to see Namibia at number eight and South Africa at number 18. Two African countries, one in the global top 10 and another in the global top 20! This is something to celebrate and a call to understudy why they ranked so high. Other African countries that featured in the top 50 are Rwanda at  number 39, Liberia at number 42 and Eswatini at number 47.

Call for Action

As we mark this year’s IWD with the theme ‘Accelerated Action’, I reflect on the outcome of Namibia and South Africa’s GGPI ranking and feel obliged to advise the following for performance improvement for accelerated action:

On jurisdictional/national levels: Namibia’s Zebra Principle works and may have greatly impacted its global top 10 ranking as number eight. South Africa’s approach to near universal adoption of the King IV Governance code, which promotes corporate altruism and responsible citizenship across the private, public and social sectors, and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), are worthy of understudy and possible domestication in other jurisdiction, with Rwanda, Liberia and Eswatini sharing their principles and practices as well.

On an institutional level: adoption of any combination of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that align with institutional brand values as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) be considered. Ensuring inclusive gender practices in labour practices, with consideration of gender life cycle stages for societal sustainability and possibility of non-punitive career breaks and remote work have long term brand loyalty in employees and service providers across gender.

On individual levels within families and communities: misogynistic resistance to women empowerment is real in some cultures in Africa and around the world, especially male dominated and paternalistic societies need to educate societies on the right of all persons, irrespective of gender, age or social standing to liberty to pursue life aspirations and contribute to society.

Conclusion

The African woman is an amazing reservoir of resources. Therefore, she needs nurturing through life cycle stages – as a girl child; as an undergraduate young woman; as a professional or entrepreneur; as a mother nurturing future generations, through her reproductive years as a wife and mother with growing and dependent children; as a mature professional who wants to contribute her experiences; and as a retired grandmother and great-grandmother or matriarch with responsibility for passing the baton of family cross generational dignity, honour and purpose.

There is so much gender parity can bring to our development agenda, as a people. So, let’s accelerate action! No more talking!

Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has a PhD in Agriculture and Rural Sociology. Nasir Idris, Kebbi State governor, holds a PhD in Education. The governor of Sokoto State, Ahmad Aliyu, also holds a doctorate in Business Administration. Dauda Lawal, Zamfara State governor, has a 1992 Masters Degree in Political Science/International Relations. Governor Gawuna Yusuf of Kano holds a Bachelors Degree in, wait for it, Biochemistry. 

So, how did a North with governors this educated end up with a strange, obnoxious, nasty and distasteful directive that shuts schools for Ramadan? 

How did the North get here and how will the region ever get out of this cesspit of affliction? Please are the children and grandchildren of these helmsmen attending the schools that are going to be shut down for Ramadan? Are the children and grandchildren of the Senators, Representatives, all political office holders and indeed the elites of the north all affected by this sit-at-home-during –Ramadan schools closure in the North? Are the schools in Saudi Arabia also closed for Ramadan or it is just Northern Nigerian Muslims that are holier than those whose womb birthed the holy Prophet? 

Why are we not seeing or hearing protests against this sad holiday? The Muslim community is quiet. The affected parents are going about their businesses as if this is okay. The Muslim clerics’ silence is the most shocking.

The schools that were shut, are there Christian students there? Will the teachers be paid for the month they are fasting and not working? That last question brings me to the biggest question of all: this closure of Northern schools for Ramadan, was it the initiative of the governors? What exactly were they thinking? Did they hold meetings with all stakeholders in this matter and how did they justify the move? How do Northern leaders sleep at night, really?

I have always been suspicious that the many social diseases that are afflicting the North are the fault of their leaders. This confirms it. Northern leaders and elites like a sick north. It works for them. They like a North West with almost nine million out-of-school children and a North-East with more than five million. Or what else is the reason why every statistic with negative figures in education domiciled in the North and then some governors  still go ahead to give this kind of directive? Exactly in whose interest is this no-school-during Ramadan holiday, the teachers’, the students’, the parents’ or whose?  

These governors, these Northern leaders, where do they see the North in Nigeria, in world equations in 10 years? Do they think producing Nigerian Presidents regularly is what gives the North power? Me, I think if Nigeria has an Hausa or Fulfude-speaking president for 20 unbroken years where the North still does what it presently does, the region will still not catch up with the rest of Nigeria. Anyway, it looks like those who are beaten are not crying while people like me are swallowing ‘panadol’ for a Northern headache.