Founder/Director of Women Politics and Media, a United States-based organisation, Sui Lang Panoke, was in Nigeria for the training of female aspirants in campaign communication and message delivery. In this interview with Abimbola Adelakun, she bares her mind on sundry issues.
Nigeria, like some other African countries, clocked 50 this year. There are insinuations in the western media that democracy has been a problem for us because the complexity of our situation doesn’t make it applicable.
That is a complex question. Democracy is very much needed in Africa, especially because a huge percentage of the world’s population lives here on this continent. If you look at other democratic societies like the United States for instance, transitioning into democratic government is a struggle. You always see struggle. You are always have strong opposition. What pushes you through that, what inspires you to continue, is the hope for a more free society; free and fair elections; media with the highest integrity; a society that is free from alienating basic human and civil rights; a society where women are represented in the political process, elected into offices and policy- making positions. So, I definitely believe that Africa should still continue to move forward in spreading democracy. We should continue to be committed to establishing democratic societies in Africa.
You have been emphasising the need for women to be put in positions because they have higher levels of integrity and make good leaders. In Nigeria, women have been found to be guilty in corruption cases as much as men. Don’t you think this position of women’s integrity is fallacious?
I don’t think so. I have seen results of ecumenical studies conducted in the United States that have proven public perception about men and women in political offices. The studies show that they do have a higher level of ethical standards. They do operate with more integrity than their male counterparts. Also, looking at governments in the past, or political environment, where and when women, has a strong presence in elected offices, there was less corruption. Of course, corruption must exist on some level in the society, but I really believe women can contribute to the reduction of that.
Is it not presumptuous bringing in results of studies conducted in the US to Nigeria? There are areas of remarkable difference such as culture…
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