Feminism: Not Enough Progress Has Been Made, Onyeka Onwenu Tells Neusroom
Award winning Nigerian singer, Onyeka Onwenu, has paid her dues in music, film and broadcasting. She has tried her hands in politics and she is an activist who has been championing calls for the rights of women.
Onwenu, however, appears not to be comfortable with the level of progress made with women’s rights despite the increasing level of feminism advocacy.
“All I can say is that not enough progress has been made in the advancement of women’s rights,” she said.
Neusroom spoke with Onwenu over her new memoir ‘My Father’s Daughter’ and she said as a child she had the freedom to express herself within the family circle.
In Nigeria, women are still permitted a limited share of power and resources in the public sphere.
The number of Nigerian women who hold public office has also declined drastically in the last three years.
Despite forming 49.4% of Nigeria’s population, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, reports by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) revealed that 62 women were elected in the 2019 elections, a meagre 4.17% of elected officials. The figure represents a decline from the 2015 – 2019 period, where women formed 5.65% of elected officials.
A previous data from CDD prior to the 2019 polls showed that women have not reached 10 per cent representation since the inception of democratic rule.
