Onimisi Seeks Reserved Parliamentary Seats For Nigerian Women

The founder of the Onono Onimisi Foundation and advocate for girls’ education, Onono Onimisi Rafatu, has urged Nigeria to reserve a significant percentage of seats in the National Assembly for women, insisting that genuine development is impossible when half of the population remains politically sidelined.

She stated this in a statement titled “Namibia’s All-Women Leadership Is a Lesson Nigeria Can No Longer Ignore,” made available to journalists in Abuja on Thursday.

Onimisi said it had become contradictory for the country to continue promoting “women empowerment” while excluding women from the central seats of power where policies shaping security, the economy and the national future are made.

According to her, Namibia has demonstrated that women can competently occupy top leadership roles without destabilising governance.

She said, “If Namibia can entrust the highest levels of government to women, why is Nigeria still making excuses?

Why is the National Assembly still dominated by one gender as though the other half of the population does not exist?”

Onimisi noted that Namibia recently made history with an all-women leadership at the apex of government, including President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Vice-President Lucia Witbooi, and Speaker of the National Assembly, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.

She described the development as “transformational”, stating that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights had already acknowledged it as a “revolution in governance”.

She argued that Nigeria’s token approach of appointing “one woman here, two women there” was insufficient and uninspiring.

“This is not about sentiment. It is about balance, representation, and the simple truth that a nation cannot grow on one wing,” she said.

Onimisi insisted that inclusive governance would bring perspectives shaped by fairness, community, and lived realities often overlooked by male-dominated leadership structures.

She added that Nigeria must learn from Namibia by appointing competent women who have earned their space and can contribute meaningfully to national growth.