REPORT OF THE CITIZEN’S FORUM FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM (CFCR) COLLOQUIUM ON ENGENDERING THE LANGUAGE AND CONTENT OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION HELD IN LAGOS FROM 17^TH – 20^TH MAY 2000.

RAPORTEURS:        

Mr. Otive Igbuzor.

Ms Amina Salihu.

INTRODUCTION

The colloquium on engendering the language and content of the 1999 constitution was organised to bring together civil institutions working on gender and specialist Academics and practitioners from  Nigeria and abroad to share experiences and comparative knowledge. It was envisaged that the colloquium would enable a thorough examination of sections of the 1999 constitution as it relates to gender with a view to providing basis for the mobilization work of the forum. The colloquium was expected to offer insights and materials for the production of an alternative model constitution, which is a cardinal objective of the forum.

SESSION ONE

Chair:             Ms Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

Speakers : Ms Mary Abubakar and  Ms Joy Ezeilo.

In her background paper, Ms Mary Abubakar of the CFCR National Steering Committee argued that there are gender gaps in the development processes of the Nigerian State. She pointed out that the 1999 constitution has not adequately taken care of women’s rights and gender issues. She opined that the language glaringly shows the patriarchal tendencies of state structures. She gave a brief history of the citizen’s forum and the seven critical areas that the forum is focusing on:

1.      Citizenship and Residency Rights.

2.      Federalism.

3.      Engendering the language and content of the Constitution.

4.      Derivation principles and Revenue Allocation.

5.      Independent Commissions

6.      Social and Economic rights.

7.      Freedom of association and Political Parties.

The citizen’s forum is organising colloquium on the seven critical areas.

The chair noted that a South African once stated that a constitution is a nation’s autobiography. She pointed out that the making of a nation’s constitution should be process led and people oriented.

Ms Joy Ezeilo – Nigerian Thematic Expert.

She took a brief incursion into the history of Constitution making in Nigeria. The paper was divided into four main parts

1. The Nigerian Constitution and the gender question.

2. An analysis of the 1999 constitution.

3. Causes of Constitutional Exclusion of women in Nigeria.

4. Recommendations/Way Forward.

Ms Ezeilo argued that constitution making in Nigeria right from Clifford Constitution of 1922 to Abubakar’s constitution of 1999 excludes much of women’s experiences. She explained that the era of colonial rule witnessed limited participation of people in constitution making as witnessed in the making of the Clifford Constitution (1922), the Richard’s constitution (1947), the Macpherson constitution (1951), the Lyttleton constitution (1954) and the Independence constitution (1960).

She observed that women’s involvement in nationalist movement and nation building have neither guaranteed them adequate representation in constitution making nor is it translated to inclusion of women in power and decision making. She argued that at the eve of independence, while minority problems was seen to have posed a threat to new independent Nigeria to merit a commission of enquiry and entrench a mechanism for their protection in the constitution, gender issue was not seen as posing any threat and was therefore completely ignored.

Ms. Ezeilo opined that constitution making in Nigeria has persistently excluded female legitimacy. For example, the Constitution Drafting Committee appointed to draft the 1979 constitution was made up of 49 `wise’  men (no woman). In the same vein, the constitutional conference constituted by Abacha regime had 361 representatives out of which only 8 were women.

In her analysis of the1999 constitution, Ms Ezeilo pointed out that the 1999 constitution  continued the pattern of female exclusion and marginalisation. She argued that the preamble of the 1999 constitution told a lie about its republican character when it stated: “ we the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…” She argued that women are not part of that “we”. For instance, the Provisional Ruling Council that promulgated that decree that bought the 1999 constitution into force was made up of 26 military officers, all males. She noted that the principles of inclusivity, openness and transparency, which are crucial in constitution making, were completely absent in the making of the 1999 constitution. She stressed the need to engender the language of the constitution by using gender neutral language when necessary and substituting the word “we” with specific mention of men and women where necessary. She analysed sections 13 –24 of chapter two of the constitution (Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of state policy) and concluded that the chapter reveals total gender blindness. She noted that the trend in recent constitution making is to recognise Ecosoc right and make them justiceable e.g. South Africa, Uganda, Malawi. She called for the inclusion of right of women to pre-natal and postnatal care. She pointed out that one area to expand the horizon of human rights is judicial activism. She gave the example of judicial activism in India where judges inteprete the right to life to include right to food, health, work etc.

Focusing on sections 25-32 of the 1999 constitution, she explained that there are 3 categories of citizenship- by birth, by registration and by naturalization. She explained that section 26 provides that any woman who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria is eligible for citizenship by registration. The section excludes its application to husbands of female Nigerian citizens. She advocated that the section should be expunged so that Nigerian men and women can confer full residency rights to their foreign spouses. She outlined the causes of constitutional exclusion of women in Nigeria to include the following:

1. Feminists, women’s rights activists and groups have not before now participated actively in debates about a Nigerian constitution.

2. Conceptualized dichotomy of public and private sphere distinctions, which makes it difficult for women to feature in the political space where constitutions are debated and negotiated.

3. Lack of concerted action by women’s groups.

4. Customs, culture, religion and tradition.

She concluded that the 1999 constitution should be taken as transitional and reformed so that we will have a new constitution by the year 2003.

Discussions

In the discussion that followed, the following issues were raised.

·         The need to highlight issues raised by the paper in conjunction with work already done on engendering the language and content of the Nigerian constitution.

·         The challenge of building a critical mass needs to be addressed particularly the problem of non-gender sensitive women in position of authority.

·         The need to check the tendency of some groups in civil society to ‘add on’ women.

·         Conceptual clarity on what constitutes gender issues and marginalisation of women.

·         The need to demystify the constitution and make it user friendly in very simple language.

·         The need to specify where gender-neutral language preposition are needed.

·         The need to critique the false dichotomy of public and private spheres.

·         The need to sustain women struggle and sensitize women leaders.

·         Recognise the polluted nature of the mainstream. It is not enough to want to locate gender issues in the mainstream. We need to interrogate the nature of the mainstream as it is.

·         There is a lot of data on the experiences of women. There is the need to use these data to advocate for social transformation.

PRESENTATIONS BY ORGANISATIONS

1.      NATIONAL CENTRE FOR WOMEN DEVELOPMENT (NCWD), ABUJA BY DR. TIMIEBI A. KORIPAMO-AGARY.

The center had earlier convened a four-day National Colloquium on Gender Review of the 1999 constitution in January, 2000. A minute silence was observed in honour of Late Professor Adesina Sambo who was part of the committee that worked on the NCWD review.

The NCWD review made the following inputs:

·         To include all stakeholders in the constitutions making process especially women and youth who constitute a       large section of the stakeholders.

·         The need to recognise gender equality.

·         The need to give protection to disadvantaged persons.

·         The need to specify ECOSOC rights.

·         The need to expand the scope of the Federal Character Act to include “gender” and “Sex” so that no state will recommend only men to serve on boards and committees.

·         The need to engender the constitution.

·         The need to change the discriminatory provision on citizenship. Nigeria men  can have their non-Nigerian wives acquire citizenship, but Nigerian women have no right to confer citizenship on their non-Nigerian husbands. Also, in respect of renunciation of citizenship, an infant girl suddenly becomes an adult because she is married according to Section 29 (4) (h). Furthermore, women by virtue of marriage lose their indigene ship of origin but cannot acquire their indigene ship of marriage.

·         The provision on political parties and the insistence on registration of political parties has effect of disenfranchising people.

From Dr. Agary’s presentation, the following challenges emerged.

·         Need for advocacy strategies.

·         The need to build allies at the decision-making levels.

·         The need to harness resources towards carrying crusade forward to the grassroots.

·         The need to build networks with women’s organizations towards moving the Nigerian gender agenda forward.

2.      BAOBAB for WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS BY CHIBOGU OBINWA.

She explained that there appears to be recognition of gender equality and hence women’s rights in the 1999 constitution because the constitution provides that there should be no form of discrimination based on sex (Sections 15 and 42). However, there are limitations to the protection guaranteed under the constitution. The limitations include:

·         There is no specific provision that protects on gender issues. We need to interrogate the nature of the mainstream as it is.

·         There is limited enforceability of the rights. The ECOSOC rights guaranteed in Chapter two are not justiceable.

·         There is no room for affirmative action.

·         The constitution is drafted in masculine gender.

·         There is no specific protection and promotions of gender rights within religion.

·         The definition of Federal Character is very narrow and does not include gender.

She concluded that the 1999 constitution has failed to lay down the foundation upon which a truly fair and democratic society can emerge.

3.      GENDER AND DEVELOPEMNT ACTION (GADA) BY NKOYO TOYO.

She started by drawing attention to some issues that need to be addressed. These include:

·         Clarification of what gender issues are.

·         The need to identify the philosophical standpoint from which we can transform gender relations and society as a whole

·         Other debates about the constitution such as Federalism, confederation etc.

·         The need for consensus.

·         The need for referendum.

·         The need to go beyond engendering the language and content of the constitution to bring the questions of gender equality to reality in the lives of Nigerian women.

She then outlined the steps taken so far by GADA towards Constitutional Review and Development. The steps include:

·         Working towards constitutional development under the General Abubakar government.

·         British Council supported program for women in public life.

·         Collaborative efforts and involvement with CDHR, CRP, NCWD, DA, TMG etc.

DISCUSSION

The discussion that followed the presentations spiraled into strategies of realizing the issues identified. The following challenges/strategies were identified:

·         Consultation.

·         Sensitization of women leaders particularly women parliamentarians.

·         The use of the media.

·         The need to educate women leaders on what gender issues are.

·         The need to prioritise, co-ordinate efforts of women and build alliances with others

·         Advocacy.

·         The need to set standards.

·         The need to realise that constitution is a product of struggle and to be involved in the struggle to produce our own

After a long discussion, the consensus was that the 1999 constitution is flawed. It was agreed that we need to work for transformation at all levels. The issues that need to be addressed are far-reaching and complex and require multi-dimensional strategies.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

Chair:             Ms. Toun Ilumoka.

Speaker:         Ms. Margaret C. Oguli-Oumo.

                        Director, Legal Movement Secretariat, Kampala, Uganda.

In her presentation titled Gender and the constitutional making process: A case for Uganda, Ms Oumo traced the political history of the Ugandan people. She highlighted the various dimensions- monarchical, republican and military experiences. The National Resistance Movement (NRM) came to power in 1986 after the Nairobi conference and government was more willing to see women participate in politics, especially as they had been involved in the liberation struggle. In the first National Resistance Council, women were given special seats to represent districts. In 1988 Government set up a Ministry of women in Development. The government then set up a constitutional commission with twenty members including two women. The methods the commission used in collecting views included seminars; educational exercises; people were encouraged to organize their own meetings and submit views; radio; television and newspapers were widely used to disseminate information; essay competitions on aspects of the constitution for students and dramas were widely used. Initially, only few women participated.  The ministry of women in Development then started a constitutional consultation exercise targeting women. The ministry involved women leaders, members of parliament, NGOs and activists and at the end came up with a report called the report of the women of Uganda to the constitutional commission. The commission received a total of 25,547 memoranda. A draft was prepared and a  Constituent Assembly was elected to study and adopt the constitution.

The participation of Ugandan women on the constitution review process yielded fruit as certain positive provisions were included in the constitution.

·         The directive principle talks clearly about the need to bridge the gap between men and women. The president is required every year to make state of the Nation address to say what government is doing to bridge the gap.

·         The responsibility of protection of women’s rights is placed not only on the State but also on institutions and individuals.

·         The language of the constitution is engendered. Provisions of equality and non-discrimination based on sex are clearly stated.

·         Men and women have the same rights in marriage and dissolution .

·         Inheritance rights of women are protected.

·         On citizenship, the children and spouse of women have the same right as men.

·         In all constitutional bodies, one- third of the members must be women.

·         There is provision of free education for four children two of who should be females .

·         Land use Act based on the constitution states that the husband cannot sell any land without a written consent of his wife.

·         Any culture, custom or tradition, which is against human dignity  is prohibited.

·         There is provision for equal opportunities commission to monitor the implementation of gender positive aspects of the constitution.

·         There is a gender policy and national plan of action. 

The strategies that was used by the ministry of gender included:

·         Training of women members of the constituent Assembly on advocacy, public speaking and the procedures of the constituent Assembly.

·         Lobbying

·         Media

The lessons that can be learnt from the Ugandan experience include the following:

·         In any  constitutional process, we need to define our goals so that we can design strategies to achieve them

·         There is the need for thorough research to justify demands

·         There is the need to identify women and friendly groups that we can work with.

·         There is the need for co- ordinated efforts.

·         There is the need to train the members so that they can have the skills to identify, analyze and articulate issues.

·         There is the need to communicate to women at all levels.

·         There is the need to support one another.

·         There is the need for women to be in decision-making positions

In the discussion that followed, it was pointed out that the Ugandan process was government driven but ours is civil society driven. It was noted that there was a great need of interaction between civil society and government for us to achieve our goal.

DISCUSSION OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION AS IT RELATES TO GENDER- BARRISTER IME UDOM.

In this discussion, it was felt that the question should begin from what we want to get from the 1999 constitution. It was agreed that we need to view the constitution review project as a process  which transcends the document itself. It was pointed out that several organizations have done a lot of work on engendering the language and content of the 1999 constitution. We therefore needed to work out strategies of engendering the constitutional reform process. In this guise, it was agreed that a participatory process was imperative. There is therefore the need to work out strategies to mobilize women to identify with and participate in the constitution review process. The crucial questions are:

·         How do we mobilize the community?

·         How do we ensure that the position of women is reflected in the constitution?

·         How do we achieve affirmative action?

·         How do we formulate advocacy for taking the document to policy makers?

·         How do we safeguard  gender  issues even beyond the current constitutional reform process?

We then agreed to form three groups to discuss plan of action for

1.      The Government

2.      Civil society

3.      The media.

GROUP REPORT

Chair-Ms Amina Salihu

GROUP ONE REPORT: ROLE OFTHE MEDIA

(1)       Objective: To ensure equality and fairness in the participation of all (men &  Women) in the running of the Country.

For: (I) A gender friendly & sensitive constitution

(ii)               For equal distribution & access to resources

(iii)       For participation in politics.

(i)                 For enhancement of “rights”, -Cultural/Religions-Citizenship, Freedom to choose religion and the cultural rights to decide on management.

(ii)               To protect all marginalised  groups

(2)       To seek the participation of stakeholders – Government – Civil society- media. We need to throw up the objective of a gender sensitive constitution. That is, from an agenda perspective. This should help to sell our position to the men, Government, Civil society and the media.

·        Have a media Policy.

·        Use existing structures and programmes on TV, Print and other media.

·         Ensure consistency.

·        Keep the media abreast of happenings

·        Relate CIVIL SOCIETIES with the media for effective dissemination of information

·        Allow stakeholders -Women & People in the Grass root to speak directly to Government on TV/Radio programmes

·        Evaluate and monitor from time to time the Media Policy.

(3)       Use alternative Media for effective awareness.

(4)       (I) Raise awareness on Gender issues through research programmes,                                                                                          intergenerational dialogue, promote role models.           

(ii)               Target Youth in Schools

(iii)             Network with Women in the informal sector -  market women/ men.  Mobilise Women through Workshops & Seminars on fundamental human rights, working with D&G, trade Groups, CBOs & Rallies.

(iv)              Using appreciative inquiries to probe target groups.

(v)                Using stickers & Below – the –line media.

(5)         Skills & Development Training

-                     Targeting the media. In house training –TOT for constitutional Forum members across the country through Zonal structures.

(5a)       Find Alliances in Newspaper & the entire Mass Media- NUJ, NAWOJ, WANNET etc, Guild of editors & Identify PPI working in Gender departments of media houses.

Techniques that can be identified:

(i)                  

      Using Local Musician's & Theatre Practitioners:

•  Musicians,Poets.

•   Dramatists

(5b)     (1)       Research has to be participatory to involve the People.

(2)    Literature Review & Comparative study of past works in neighbouring countries                           

(3)        Disegregating Data –Existing.

(4)        Monitor awareness.

(5)        Create feedback after dissemination of Research/Information.

(5c)     Networking & Coalition.

(a)               Newsletter-for sharing information.

(b)               Analysis of situation (SAS) to build coalition.

(c)               Organise Annual Event (Coalition) for constitutional awareness at different levels.

-                     Policy makers

-                     Community leaders

-                     Media and other stakeholders .

Resource Mobilisation

(i)      Identify friendly donors – Ford, Friederick-Ebert, USAID-O.T.I, McArthur, Organised Private  Sector, and local Philanthropists.  Offer promotional activities to benefit donors.

(6)   Build alliances, exchange-training skills, build a constituency of Women & other oppressed groups, pull resources from Networks.

GROUP TWO REPORT : ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

1. (I)     Mainstream women’s issues in national development.

(ii)               Achieve greater participation of Women in decision making and governance.

(iii)             Entrench non-discrimination

(iv)              Provide for enforcement of the rights of women within the constitution.

2                    Forum should work with:

(i)                 FMWASD/Center NCWD’

(a)               Forum to sensitize the FMWASD on Women issues and the process

(b)               Forum to push for domestication of CEDAW and CRC and African Charter and other relevant conventions.

(c)               FMWASD to mobilise for support from other ministry.

(d)               FMWASD to collate and coordinate the various imputes & issues

(e)               FMWASD to mobilise NGOs to support the process.

(f)                 Forum to lobby for constitution review  favourable to gender issues.

(ii)              

Judiciary:  To be sensitised at all levels- on gender issues and relevant conventions.

(iii)             Legislature:

Sensitise the legislature, especially

-                     Women caucus.

-                     Joint House Committee on Constitution.

-                     Leadership of N/A.

3                     (I) Identify and articulate gender issues effectively.

(ii)Make the language friendly and easy to understand

(iii)Make other constitutions available. E.g Uganda, South Africa and Indian.

Through: 1.Media publicity.

            -Advocacy visits

            -IEC materials

            -Development Training Manual (FMWASD/Civil/Social)

            -Training

            -Schools gender program –debates etc.

2.           FMWASD should lead FMWASD to work with Civil Society groups.

3.  Capacity Building Implications for Women.     

(a)               Skills Development / Training

(i)                 Negotiation skills

(ii)               Advocacy / lobbying skills

(iii)             Communication skills – Public speaking, presentation.

(iv)              Writing skills – Press Release

(v)                Leadership skills

(vi)              Production of Training Manuals

(vii)            Study Tours

(viii)          Proposal / Report writing

(b)               Research

(i)                 Collate all Research done

(ii)               Review the Research results

(iii)             Identify gaps

(iv)              Do new Research in areas of need.

(c)               Networking and Coalition Building  FMWASD to do this

(d)               Resource Mobilisation

-                     Government budget

-                       Bi-lateral                                

-                     Multi-lateral                            Agencies

4.  Strategies to put in place to build a strong Women’s movement

(i)                 Net working and coalition (support and strengthen)

(ii)               Training.

GROUP THREE REPORT: ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

What do we want to achieve?

-                

How do we seek the active & informed participation of key stakeholders?

1.                  Training

2.                  Information: Gathering information from research, publications, workshops, experience from other countries &  similar background

3.                  Disseminating into via media, schools, CSOs, religious institutions, traditional rulers.

4.                  Engendering the Media: Invite them to our workshops, train them, and give them information.

5.                  CSOs should engage govt. by:

a.         Learn to work as partners with govt. 

b.                  See govt. as occasional allies.

c.                  Active participation in political parties.

6                    CSOs especially women  should use their constituency as political leverage

7                    CSOs should seize political power

-                     Political  Education

-                     Civil Education

-                     Join political parties/run as Independents

-                     Endorse candidates

8                    Engage in advocacy (on behalf of the people)

(a)       Identify issues

(b)               Target (policy, Judiciary and Legislature)

(c)               Methodology   

(d)               Prioritise

(e)               Seek consensus

(f)                 Alliance- Building.

9                    Raise awareness on CEDAW & other international & regional instruments.

10               Raise awareness on the current constitution.

(a)               Simplifying the sections/user friendly

(b)               Making it available in local languages

(c)               Engaging local authorities to help with dissemination

11               Support the Femocrats at all levels.

We can ensure that women emerge as key players by:

(1)               Increasing their participation (Civil & Political Education, mobilising resources, affirmative action)

(2)               Push for Affirmative Action Programs

(3)               Identifying women & giving them support

(4)               Use women/ CSO organizations as training grounds to build women capacities.

(5)               Encourage Cultural/political /religion associations to include women in their leadership.

(6)               Insist on internal democratic structures in CSOs and political parties. These structures are designed to exclude the participation of  women.

(7)               Encourage women to create their own ‘Girls’ Networks’.

Capacity –Building   

1.                  Training:  Civil responsibilities, leadership & management, youth, advocacy, para-personal employment, public speaking, institutional legal development.

2. Research     

(a)               Gender Desegregated Data.

(b)               Patterns of oppression and how this has been sustained .

(c)               Strategies for eradicating the above, especially the role of CSOs.

(d)               Documentation & dissemination of research

(e)               Making research findings available internationally .

(f)                 Increase the capacity of institution of higher learning working on gender programs.

 Networking & Coalition building

-                     Consensus building

-                     Conflict management          

-                     Information technology       - Internet, E-mail.

Resource mobilisation

(a) Using community efforts     - Sponsorship, Concerts, and Philanthropists.