Getting in Touch with the Out of Reach: Fieldwork Strategies in Research on Women and Politics (South-West of Nigeria) (2024)

Data related to this article: “Getting in Touch with the Out of Reach: Fieldwork Strategies in Research on Women and Politics (South-West of Nigeria). Documents presented in the article.” https://doi.org/​10.5281/​zenodo.11234755.
Documents retrieved by the author and transcribed interview made by the author, also reproduced in the “Documents” section at the end of this article.

2Reasons adduced to this low representation are found in a plethora of writings on women’s political participation from both local and international scholars. Such factors include religion, poverty, illiteracy, finance and the high cost of elections, envy among women, property ownership/right of inheritance, party funding, household division of labour, violence, blackmail, rigging and so on (Luka 2011; Awofeso and Odeyemi 2014; Akpan 2015). However, evidence from different specific contexts around the world do not support the overreaching of these assumptions, as they appear too simplistic to explain women’s underrepresentation in politics (Hoodfar and Tajali 2011). For example, recent studies have identified political parties as one of the most significant institutions influencing women’s participation in politics, where party leadership, usually composed almost exclusively of men, tends to privilege men and is less likely to support women’s candidacy (Bako and Syed 2018; Eniola 2018; Erlich and Beauvais 2023).

4Regarding the lawmakers who were the primary research participants in this study, negotiating access for the purpose of an interview could sometimes be fraught with difficulties (Littig 2009). First, locating politicians appeared only relatively easier during the period of mandate seeking or renewal where people’s votes were needed, a common practice associated with political clientelism (see details in Document 5: Interview with a female lawmaker at LSHA). Here, politicians were expected to demonstrate that their constituents were in good hands and that their interests were well taken care of. This was done with the hope of assured electoral support (Francois and Navarro 2020). Second, a specific place where I discovered lawmakers to be more accessible and more likely to engage in interviews was in the legislative assemblies where they converged to carry out their functions of legislative policymaking, and where they were assigned personal offices for the period for which they are to serve.

6This multifaceted entry approach was considered necessary owing to previous experiences of researchers which have made one thing clear: that the state as a separate and autonomous entity exists with such great power that it makes itself difficult to study (Abrams 1988). For example, this is reflected in how government personnel and information, which are presumed to be accessible for public consumption, are jealously kept out of reach of the people. Difficulties in circ*mscribing state actions have led to a limited understanding of its scope as public policymaking actors who act in the interest of the people only. This notion is particularly amplified every election cycle to raise the hope of the masses. Studying women also appears to be accompanied by other layers of difficulty. For example, researchers working on women’s political participation and mobilisation have observed difficulties in reaching women in politics (Rillon 2012; Panata 2020). Therefore, innovative approaches are important to ensure data collection.

7I begin by presenting my positionality as a male graduate student from a working-class background researching gender/women issues and the implication of this intersection on the type of data I generate. Thereafter, I provide insights into how I navigated these assemblies to gain access to these lawmakers by articulating the kind of information I had hoped to get and what I eventually got. Then, I discuss women’s struggle for political inclusion, decision-making powers and their activities in legislative policymaking. I conclude by reflecting on the complementary roles of both formal and informal entries and how they shaped and enhanced the data gathering process.

9These HoAs were selected from a total of six in this geo-political zone because of the higher number of female lawmakers recorded from 1999, the beginning of the country’s fourth republic, to 2019 when the fieldwork commenced. Out of the 1,232 seats available in this period, women occupied 76, representing 6.1% of the states’ total legislative seats in the zone. While Lagos State has the highest cumulative number of female representatives, Ekiti State, especially in the last three elections cycles, has grown its female representation and overtook Lagos in the elections conducted in 2023.

10Furthermore, secondary data collected included legislative and constituency records. Adopting an exploratory research design assisted me in obtaining in-depth accounts of the female lawmakers’ struggles to secure legislative seats, as well as their activities and contributions to legislative policymaking. Table 1 breaks down women’s representation in all the six states in the country’s South-West Geo-political Zone from where the highest three were selected.

11Source: Legislative records in the selected HoAs and INEC database.

Table 1: Distribution of women’s representation in the HoAs in the six states of the South-West Geo-political Zone of Nigeria from 1999 to 2023

12The small number of female representatives across the three states made it easy to consider total sampling for my key informants. Just as in the case of this study, it is important to state that it is not in all cases that a researcher is able to interview all those he wishes to, or asks the kind of questions he had planned (Loyle 2016). To be able to achieve this (if at all) could come at a great cost of time and resources. However, the long period spent in the field and the mobilisation of all possible contacts ensured that I was able to conduct 63 interviews, including nine out of the eleven female lawmakers who were serving at the time of this fieldwork, four of their personal assistants (PAs) and eight legislative support staff.

13The questions I had prepared for my interviews centred around the political experience of the lawmakers especially during electioneering periods, their policy preferences, how these preferences promoted gender-friendly legislation, and whether there was synergy between these female lawmakers and women’s organisations, for the purpose of promoting women’s issues. Physical and telephone interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Follow-up interviews were also conducted as the transcription of data progressed. This was done mainly through telephone conversations and WhatsApp. However, permissions granted to carry out these interviews only covered the original purpose for which this work was designed: my doctoral research. As such, the two transcripts in the “Documents” section at the end of this article have been edited to ensure the anonymity of the interviewees.

14It is not uncommon to see people ask, “What are men doing in women/gender studies?” Remarkably, this question is not new, yet every now and then, there seems to be a need for re-justification or reassurance that a man working on women or gender topics is doing this as a serious academic engagement. As observed by Pereira (2018), gender studies as an academic field of study has continued to grow globally, attracting the curiosity of both female and male scholars. For example, in many countries including Nigeria, it has now become fully formed and is increasingly being institutionalised (Adebayo 2022). While there are those who see such male researchers as useful allies in knowledge production endeavours capable of addressing structural, social and gender issues, there are others such as Klein (1983) and Freeman and Jones (1980) whose ambivalence about this inclusion still resonates. One of the issues they identified in this regard is the danger of a sole male perspective and the bias it could generate in gathering and interpreting data. For instance, studies of women by men in some West African societies have emphasised their relative political relevance and economic autonomy to the detriment of the more important conversation around women’s universal oppression (Davies 2008).

15Interestingly, in the context of this research, being a man did not constitute much of a hurdle as my status as a graduate student would not suggest any motive other than the primary reason of coming to the research site. At no point was there any attempt or conversation from any party about personal affairs such as love or relationships. However, exchanges with my internal examiner before embarking on the fieldwork scrutinised my interest in conducting research on women’s political activities. Her suggestions on my research questions ensured that I innovatively approached this mainstream political science topic by focusing on the impact of women’s representation rather than on the question of their numerical increase, where a significant amount of research had already been carried out, both locally and internationally.

16Besides, possession of embodied cultural capital in a cultural space which is highly sensitive to demonstration of respect (with particular emphasis on seniority in terms of chronological age difference) (Oyewumi 1997) proved immensely useful. The Yorùbá social ordering is strong on age consideration for seniority. This is reflected in its language which necessitates the use of courtesy plural when referring to or communicating with an older individual. For example, exchanging words of greeting is expected to be initiated by a younger individual (at least traditionally). I am from this Yorùbá speaking area located mainly in the South-West of the country, and was raised in a suburb of Lagos by parents who had no college degree and who carried out informal trade, and I never hesitated to leverage on these attributes whenever the need arose. My social origin and scholarly pursuits marked me as both serious and driven. As such, after introducing myself and the purpose of my research (to earn a doctorate), many of the research participants were impressed and became comfortable enough to provide answers to my questions and also obliged to my requests for meeting appointments. Some of these participants would go ahead and talk about family values and how those values were being eroded lately (see details in Document 5: Interview with a female lawmaker at Ekiti State House of Assembly). Although being an insider can create difficulties in maintaining analytical distance, such as trying to presume a respondent’s conclusion on certain questions regarding the role of “political godfathers” in political recruitment for instance (Ademolu 2023), it has a lot of advantages necessary for a successful fieldwork experience, especially when researchers can question their own assumptions, what Bourdieu articulated clearly in his discourse of reflexive sociology (Fries 2009). For Bourdieu, reflexivity ensures that researchers are critically aware of their own biases, their limitations and also try to overcome them in their research engagements. It therefore meant that my identity (gender, religion, class, educational attainment) and values remained relevant in the process of scientific investigation and would have interfered in such processes if I did not maintain a critical analytical distance.

17Moreover, being a student attracted somewhat of a good reception and being a graduate student (being on an ascendant socio-economic curve) is one important way to legitimise one’s research (Feldman, Bell and Berger 2003; Grant 2017). This was the case with my first interviewee who hurriedly read the letter I presented to her and requested to see my identity card which she needed to corroborate my claim. Upon her confirmation, she agreed to have the interview conducted immediately. In another instance, there was a lawmaker whom I learnt was bereaved at around the time I entered one of the research sites. Upon reaching out to her via text message, she replied by proposing a telephone interview. In articulating some of the measures to overcome the challenge of access, Littig (2009) noted the possibility of a respondent trying to fill a psychosocial void. Also, it could mean a serendipitous meeting with an altruistic individual who was motivated to support a young researcher in his pursuit to expand the frontiers of knowledge (ibid.), the reason I presumed she suggested a telephone interview in the interest of time, and also why she would respond promptly each time I asked her questions through WhatsApp.

18However, this was not the case with all the interviews as some potential interviewees remained recalcitrant even after formal introductions. They had to be occasionally reminded through both formal and informal channels before they finally agreed to be interviewed. Although they were all reached in the end, there were two interviews so short and unimpressive that I eventually decided to exclude them from my analysis, owing to the fact that they could not provide the kind of information required. For example, a female lawmaker after being asked just a few questions, directed me to her colleague and told me that her colleague’s views would represent hers, a gesture which I interpreted as a reluctance to share her own thoughts and experience.

19To secure interviews, knowing prominent people who have access to politicians was quite helpful. For example, apart from fast-tracking the process of meeting them, some of these politicians were curious to know the nature of my relationship with these prominent individuals. An example of this situation played out when a relative of a former state governor in one of the research sites called a principal officer in the state legislative assembly to allow me to speak with him, even though a letter had been submitted earlier for the same purpose with no immediate response. With this call, access was granted sooner than expected. This was also the scenario each time I introduced myself to have been directed to come by the secretary of a political party in one of the states. Typically, within the Nigerian political party structure, a party secretary is one of the key leaders and is responsible for the daily administration of the party. His resourcefulness and position as custodian of useful information regarding candidates’ recruitment makes him highly respected. However, in places where this was not the case, my status as a student provided enough ground not to be totally disregarded by these “not so easy to be accessed” politicians. Interestingly, some lawmakers (in their own wisdom) figured that monetary support might be useful for a student who had travelled all the way to interview them. Therefore, they gave me money in envelopes which they hoped could be used to facilitate research logistics. This gesture is not an uncommon practice in the environmental context of this research, where older people try to show support for younger ones who are in a noble pursuit, such as an academic one. Therefore, it did not in any way affect the content of my research by having me write favourably about them, for instance. Rather, it emphasised generational relational norms and practices, where older people are in a way responsible to people seen as junior or belonging to a working-class background.

20Did people agree to be interviewed by me because they needed to demonstrate their loyalty to the mobilised intermediary? Were they doing it because they figured that I might be helpful to further their political motives at some point? These experiences raised a lot of questions on inversion of loyalty which I had not anticipated. However, it also tells a lot about the complex ways to access politicians and the difficulty of studying the state or its institutions, as well as about the role of intermediaries in securing access. The next section further explains my experience in gaining entry to these legislative assemblies.

21In the context of this article, I define formal entry as presenting institutional letters to gain access to the research sites and to negotiate acceptance from research participants. Obtaining an introduction letter from one’s institution to conduct academic research is a common practice for graduate students in Nigeria. This is because it establishes the origin of the research and the purpose for which it is designed. An approach like this has advantages. For example, by being presented with such letters, research participants are more likely to engage with a student’s research and provide the necessary support. My academic supervisor, who was also the coordinator of the gender studies programme at my university, provided letters to introduce me to the Clerks of each legislative assembly (see Document 1: An institutional letter of introduction). The Clerks would then either forward my request to the Speaker of the legislative assembly (as in the case of OGSHA) or directly to the target participants (as in the case of EKSHA and LSHA). With their approval, I was free to explore the legislative complexes. This approach worked most efficiently in LSHA and OGSHA where some administrative staff were assigned to me to provide support. They helped to identify the offices of lawmakers, introduced me to them, and provided access to legislative records.

22However, this significant entry method was not without its drawbacks. Apart from the longer duration it may have required to finally get to the research participants (Monaham and Fisher 2015), formal entries still do not always guarantee a successful interview. For instance, it was typical of the politicians to try and second-guess my motives and therefore became reluctant to answer some important questions. Also, the letters only presented requests, which research participants still had the right to deny. For example, a lawmaker once agreed to grant an interview by telephone after a formal introduction, but changed her mind when she was called at the agreed time. Others who may not be interested also utilised perpetual postponement of appointments as a strategy to deter the researcher. I classify this category of people as elites whose interviews required subtlety.

23Access goes beyond obtaining official permission, and because entry processes fluctuate, it is often necessary for the researcher to speak with as many people as possible (Feldman, Bell and Berger 2003). For every research site, and in the specific case of the fieldwork, opportunities to achieve this abound, such that I will touch only on two experiences which were directly connected to the interviews of incumbent female lawmakers.

24In OGSHA I initially encountered some bureaucratic bottlenecks, and I decided during the delay to visit the secretariat of the ruling political party. There, I discovered a get-together which had been organised to celebrate the birthday of the political party’s state secretary. A request to meet with him was granted a few minutes after my arrival and the obviously elated celebrant (although he did not grant an interview himself) gave me the contacts of two of the four female incumbent lawmakers and other useful contacts (including those of the party’s state and national women leaders, and incumbent and former commissioners of women affairs in the state). My investigation being on women’s political participation and representation, he was ready to give me as many contacts of women leaders as possible, telling me, “If they ask you where you are from, tell them you are from me.” As mentioned earlier, political party leadership is composed almost exclusively of men to whom these women needed access to get elected. Introducing myself as coming from the party’s state secretary opened many doors beyond the target research participants. A more critical analysis of this scenario could suggest that rendering this much needed help went beyond showcasing generosity on his birthday, in front of staff members and friends. It could have also been a way of enhancing his own personal agency by sending me to the women leaders and making me a political asset. Moreover, it hinted at gender inequality, whereby a senior male political official put junior female colleagues in a position where they could not refuse to be interviewed.

25At EKSHA, I had fraternised with two of the support staff I met in the office of a lawmaker; one of whom turned out to be the lawmaker’s daughter. The phone interview that I conducted later on was unsuccessful, due to the lawmaker’s decision to decline at the last minute. However, the lawmaker’s daughter provided useful guidance on how to navigate through this specific complexity and was readily available to answer my queries when she could. Additionally, she supplied a useful link to the understanding of female lawmakers’ constituency services by connecting me to the PAs of other incumbent female lawmakers.

26While I had prepared well in advance for my fieldwork, the reality of the initial few weeks revealed strong administrative constraints. Furthermore, my interviews were not providing specific information that I sought, prompting the need to realign my research objectives. Therefore, I was guided to begin by interrogating further the question of female lawmakers’ numerical presence (a perennial issue in Nigerian women’s politics discourse) before moving to the question of the electioneering activities that produced these lawmakers, and then, their legislative policymaking activities. The PAs served as key informants on the work of their principals, particularly with reference to constituency services, providing some details and pictorial evidence of executed projects. Some other administrative staff whom I met while navigating the legislative complexes also granted interviews and recommended books containing the summary of legislative proceedings and information regarding the history, structure, and operations of these assemblies (as in the case of LSHA). One such interview was with a senior legislative administrative staff who also recommended a book which provided an account of the history and development of the LSHA from 1979 to 2011, and guided me in sorting through information about the representatives and their constituencies, especially from 1999 (see Document 4: The book cover of Lagos Legislative Fact Finder).

27Resisting the urge to think of informality in a narrow and retrogressive manner or as an attribute of a backward society is important. It is for this reason that David (2016) suggests we think of informal processes beyond the economic domain and as an opportunity to take initiative. While not valorising informality as holding such great potential for effective fieldwork, a nuanced adoption could open unanticipated possibilities as in the case of spontaneous visits to political party secretariats. Also, reflexivity helped me in the study, not to judge but to try and understand the process. This also influenced my rapport with the research participants and the possibility for continued conversation through both formal and informal exchanges during and after the process of data collection and data cleaning. The following two sections discuss women’s electioneering experiences and solidarity among them.

28While the process of seeking elective office can be daunting for politicians, the persistent failure of women to attain numerical increase has warranted international corrective efforts and has attracted the attention of numerous scholars making the subject an important part of the global debates in political representation (Bauer 2019). Although there are accounts of a few women contesting and winning elections in legislative assemblies in Nigeria, the process, more often than not, has been more challenging for them as they are less likely to win elections without a male-dominated support system (Ette and Akpan-Obong 2023). Some women who wrote about their experiences in the last decade, notably Ayisha Osori (2018) on her struggle to contest for a seat in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, and Remi Sonaiya (2018) who contested for the presidency, described how factors such as patriarchy, indigeneity and finance derailed their prospects. Their experience was consistent with the work of Okoosi-Simbine and Obi (2020) who identified how patriarchal social structure, finance as well as the question of nativity, contributed to increased women’s political apathy. Stories such as these became more familiar during interviews with female politicians in the course of my study. In the words of one of the respondents:

Women, we […] I don’t know why it [is] always so, that once you step up, you paste your poster, let’s take it from there that you want to aspire, you [are] doing three times the normal work that an average man contesting the same position would do. You don’t know why this is so? There is this societal stereotype. There is the societal perception that a woman is supposed to end up in the other room or in the kitchen. (Document 6: Interview with a female lawmaker at Lagos State House of Assembly)

29For those who are sponsored by established political party patrons, navigating this masculinised political terrain can be relatively easier during electioneering periods. This type of account was generalised enough across the studied legislative assemblies as many of the female lawmakers were always quick to talk about the benevolence of their patrons “who discovered them.” These patrons would go ahead to sponsor and adapt the party structure to accommodate their ambitions which, in most cases, led to electoral success. To them, going all the way alone portends a very slim chance of electoral victory. A female lawmaker captures this experience:

I have been in the business of having contacts with people from all walks of life. I have had to meet with people at the top echelon of government, and I have worked with them as well, ‘cause you know, most of the people who were my bosses at the [name of business venture withheld] where I was a senior management staff. I also had the opportunity of meeting with people who were also politicians, who also were heads of the company. They were the ones who actually encouraged me to take up position in politics because to them they believed I have what it takes to become a very astute politician. I didn’t see myself as a politician, but it just happened that somebody discovered me and so far, it’s been ok. (Document 6: Interview with a female lawmaker at Lagos State House of Assembly).

30Remarkably, women turn up in large numbers to carry out their political responsibilities. According to INEC, about 48 million women registered to vote in the 2023 general elections, accounting for 48% of voters’ distribution, revealing near parity of voters’ registration between men and women, a repetition from past election cycles (Nkereuwem 2023). Also, women’s indispensable efforts at ensuring electoral victory have been consistently acknowledged by party leaders through the office of women’s leaders whose responsibility is to galvanise women’s support (Adebayo 2023). However, women themselves are excluded from party power politics, which usually reduces their chances of negotiating access for political relevance (Okoosi-Simbine and Obi 2020; Ette and Akpan-Obong 2023). The crux of this conversation on women’s representation is succinctly captured in a paradox: women’s political participation is high, but their representation is low. This statement further corrects the notions of women’s low political participation which is often put forward by some scholars.

32Gaining the support of women could constitute one of the biggest hurdles to cross for aspiring candidates in an election. Tamale (2000) noted that some female politicians have no difficulty in openly criticising other women. They do so by engaging in slanderous campaigns which always make reconciliation difficult, reinforcing the idea of a house divided against itself which cannot stand. As such, eliminating hostility among women in the pursuit of collective upward political mobility remains painstakingly slow. The experience of Oshori further gives credence to Alliyu’s (2016) analysis of the strength of patriarchy, a system that reflects the unequal power relation between women and men, or more specifically, a system that is known for pitting women against women for the attention of men, rather than valuing women’s solidarity and collective mobilisation.

Hmmmm! It was a joke [with emphasis]. Easy? That word “easy” it’s a joke. Power is not served a la carte. There is nowhere in the world. Even amongst your fellow women, it was not easy… when it comes to taking it, it was not easy… if your immediate constituency as the women don’t even support you, you may have a lot of work, which happened to us… Of course, everybody in this assembly is on loan now, because we need to do this and that. Immediately I got my […], we won elections, I had to sink a borehole in my Ward. 750,000 [naira], immediately after elections (Interview with female lawmaker EKSHA 3, 30/10/2019)

34As can be gleaned from the excerpt above, female politicians who are aware of the difficulties in securing party nominations especially in a clientelist political context (Roelofs 2019), and are serious about getting elected, do not rely on recommendations which have not been enacted into law to lobby for elective offices. They pitch their tents with the power holders, follow the dictates of their political party power structures which are in the firm grip of men and would not compromise this for the sake of women’s solidarity. The next section discusses how I obtained information on legislative and constituency activities of these lawmakers.

35As the lawmaking arm of government, the legislature is a platform where the opinion of constituents is expressed in the policymaking process. Also, it carries out oversight duties to guarantee that the executive branch of government is effectively delivering public goods to the populace. In Nigeria, until the fourth republic, the responsibility of legislators was restricted only to lawmaking. However, in a bid to further enhance the visibility of government in every electoral district, constituency services were introduced as an additional responsibility for lawmakers during the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 (Usman 2014).

36Interestingly, initiating and overseeing constituency projects, rather than legislative policymaking, dominated much of the activities of the lawmakers interviewed. Information regarding the work of lawmakers through bills, motions, questions and amendments were contained in legislative records which in some instances were not detailed enough. As such, there were instances where I would ask specific questions to try to obtain the kind of documents that would help my analysis. This became possible over time, owing to regular visits to these legislative assemblies and building rapport with the legislative support staff. Documents obtained in this way include EKSHA list of bills passed from 1999 to 2019, biodata of EKSHA members from 1999 to 2023, and OGSHA status of bills passed from 1999 to 2019. Also, additional documents were obtained while searching for information on lawmakers and their legislative activities. For example, the roll call of members of HoAs which was found in a file, helped corroborate the information on the number of women in OGSHA from 2011 to 2015, and the constituencies which they represented (see Document 2: Sample of a lawmakers’ roll call in English; and Document 3: Sample of a lawmakers’ roll call in Yorùbá).

38Interventions from these lawmakers have largely been directed towards their policy preferences most of which are well situated within social and women issues. These include providing access to water through drilling boreholes, medical screenings for women and the elderly, economic empowerment of women, and supplying school furniture, backpacks and notebooks to schoolchildren. The two pictures below showing some of these constituency interventions by a lawmaker produced from the magazine Apapa Mo’ Care, Season 1, 2018 which she gave me after I had interviewed her, and it gave details of her own constituency projects.

39In this article, I reflect on my doctoral fieldwork experience on the question of women’s representation at the sub-national legislative assemblies in South-West Nigeria. The study provided a lens to understand women’s struggles for political inclusion and their activities in legislative policymaking. Typical of a researcher in training with little experience, I had hoped that by formally introducing myself as a graduate student, I would be guaranteed a positive reception and my work would be straightforward. However, experience at the initial stage with this single pronged approach gave little success. While my research is important to me, this is not the case with the people that I had hoped to engage. It, therefore, became important to be innovative to obtain the kind of data that would answer my research questions. I leveraged on my social origin, age, embodied cultural capital and academic pursuit to elicit positive reception. Thereafter, I analysed the complementary use of both formal and informal entries to reach my interviewees and legislative support staff, and how these processes resulted in gathering important data through interviews and legislative and constituency records to understand women’s struggle for power and their legislative policymaking activities in Nigeria.

Document 1: An institutional letter of introduction

Transcript

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN, NIGERIA
INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES
Gender Studies Programme
2 December 2019
The Clerk,
Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA)
Alausa, Ikeja
Dear Sir,
Letter of Introduction: ADEBAYO Adedeji V.
I hope my letter meets you well sir. This letter introduces ADEDEJI Adebayo V. (Matric No XXX) a PH.D student in the Peace and Conflict Studies Unit of the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies under my supervision at the Gender Studies unit of the Institute of African Studies (IAS). Adedeji is seeking to conduct interviews on “Women’s Substantive Political Representation in Southwest, Nigeria” with (female) representatives in the Lagos State House of Assembly.
Additionally, I will be very grateful if you could approve him of access to the list of members of the State House of Assembly and the bills passed from 1999 till date. The data is intended purely for research purpose only.
I would be glad to provide more information on this subject should you need any further clarification.

Document 2: Sample of a lawmakers’ roll call in English

Transcript

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
OGUN STATE OF NIGERIA
SEVENTH LEGISLATURE (2011-2015)
2014/2015 SESSION
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS
THURSDAY 21^ST MAY, 2015
NO. 231
The House met at 1.45p.m
1. ROLL CALL

	CONSTITUENCY	MEMBER
1	Abeokuta North	Ojodu, Olayiwola Jamiu (Pastor)
2	Abeokuta South I	Fasanya, Victor Oludotun (Barr.)
3	Abeokuta South II	Allen-Taylor, Olufemi Wilfred (Snr. Apostle)
4	Ado-Odo/Ota I	Aina, N. Akinpelu (Barr.)
5	Ado-Odo/Ota II	Bankole, Olusola Akanbi
6	Egbado North I	Adekunbi, Suraju I. (Prince)
7	Egbado South	Edunjobi, Babatunde
8	Ewekoro	Jolaoso, Olujobi Israel
9	Idiroko/Ipokia	Abiodun, M.A.O. Akovoyon (Rev.)
10	Ifo I	Oluomo, Olakunle Taiwo (Prince)

11Ijebu-North ISolaja, O. Bowale12IkenneSonuga, Samuel Olusola (Odofin)13OdedaElemide, Oludaisi Olusegun (Arch.)14OdogboluHazzan, Remmy M.A. (Pastor)15Sagamu IMafe, Adeyinka (Asiwaju, Barr.)16Sagamu IISolarin, Samuel Olusegun

Excused:

1	Ifo II	Adeleye-Oladapo, Tunrayo A. (Mrs.)
2	Ijebu-Ode	Banjo, Omotola Peter
3	Ijebu- North East	Onademuren, Samson O. (Barr.)

Absent:

1	Imeko/Afon	Adeleke, Salmon
2	Ijebu-East	Obafemi, Adegboyega Olowo-Oloja
3	Egbado North II	Akintan, Job Olufemi
4	Ijebu-North II	Adegbesan, Joseph F. (Engr.)
5	Obafemi/Owode	Anifowose, Elizabeth F. (Mrs.)
6	Ogun Waterside	Harrison, Adeyemi
7	Remo-North	Obafemi, John

(The Speaker declared a quorum present)

Document 3: Sample of a lawmakers’ roll call in Yorùbá

Transcript

40ILE IGBIMO ASOFIN
IPINLEOGUN TI NAIJIRIA
EGBAA ODUN O LE MOKANLA SI EGBAA ODUN O LE MEEDOGUN
NINU ILE IGBIMO ASOFIN
OJO IJOKO KERINDINLOGOJI ILE IGBIMO ASOFIN
OJO KERINDINLOGOJI OJORU, OJO KETADINLOGBON, OSU KEJE, ODUN EGBAA O-LE-MOKANLA
IPADE BERE NI AGOGO META KU ISEJU MEEDOGUN OSAN
1. PIPE ORUKO

	AGBEGBE	AWON ASOFIN
1	Abeokuta North	Ojodu, Olayiwola Jamiu (Oluso agutan)
2	Abeokuta South I	Fasanya, Victor Oludotun (Amofin)
3	Abeokuta South II	Allen-Taylor, Olufemi Wilfred
4	Ado-Odo/Ota I	Aina, N. Akinpelu (Amofin)
5	Ado-Odo/Ota II	Bankole, Olusola Akanbi
6	Egbado North I	Adekunbi, Suraju I. (Omoba)
7	Egbado North II	Akintan, Job Olufemi
8	Egbado South	Edunjobi, Babatunde
9	Ewekoro	Jolaoso, Olujobi Israel
10	Ifo I	Oluomo, Olakunle Taiwo (Omoba)
11	Ifo II	Adeleye-Oladapo, Tunrayo A. (Arabinrin)
12	Ijebu-East	Obafemi, Adegboyega Olowo-Oloja
13	Ijebu-North I	Solaja, O. Bowale
14	Ijebu-North II	Adegbesan, Joseph F. (Onimo Ero)
15	Ijebu-North East	Onademuren, Samson O. (Amofin)
16	Ijebu-Ode	Banjo, Omotola Peter
17	Ikenne	Sonuga, Samuel Olusola (Odofin)
18	Imeko/Afon	Adeleke, Salmon
19	Idiroko/Ipokia	Abiodun, Mathew Olu (Eniowo)
20	Obafemi/Owode	Anifowose, Elizabeth F. (Arabinrin)
21	Odeda	Elemide, Oludaisi Olusegun (Ayaworan Ile)
22	Odogbolu	Hazzan, Remmy M.A. (Oluso agutan)
23	Ogun Waterside	Harrison, Adeyemi
24	Sagamu I	Mafe, Adeyinka (Asiwaju)
25	Sagamu II	Solarin, Samuel Olusegun

Gafara:

1.

Remo-North

Obafemi, John

(Olori Ile Igbimo Asofin kede wibe won pe to)

Document 4: Book cover of Lagos Legislative Fact Finder

Document 5: Interview with a female lawmaker at Ekiti State House of Assembly (ESHA)

Site: Ado Ekiti
Date: 30 October 2019
Time: 36 mn 08 s
Language: English, Yorùbá
Address: Ekiti State House of Assembly Complex, Ado Ekiti
Download in ODT format (21 KB), RTF format (155 KB).

Q: My primary focus is actually on women’s representatives and I would want to have an idea of your experience as a representative. Number One. How did you become a politician, an active one at that?

A: I became an active politician, let me say by accident. As somebody, who actually loves government, a newspapers addict, a news addict, I love governance. But ehn! I used to be a teacher; it’s quite two distinct worlds. But I had an opportunity when I had an elder sibling of mine (sic) who came into politics and wanted me to come along. I saw it as an opportunity.

Q: When was that?

A: That was 2008.

Q: And what party were you then?

A: Action Congress.

Q: When was the first time you contested for an elective office? [or] Since when have you been an Honourable [member of the state HoA]?

A: I used to be a political appointee from 2010 to 2014.

Q: What was your position then?

A: I was Special Assistant to the Governor on protocol. Initially I was Special Adviser [corrected herself] Assistant to the Deputy Governor on Domestics. Then later I moved to the Governor’s [office], I became Special Assistant on Protocol until 2015 when we left the government. Then we came back.

Q: Many of the debates on women’s representation have been descriptive. Now I am looking at the functions of the few ones.

A: What are they doing? We’ve been doing a lot because we’ve been so fortunate that we chair sensitive roles in the assembly. I for instance, I am the chairman on education, science and technology. Chairman, women affairs and social development. We have Honourable [name withheld] who is the chairman on health. We have Honourable [name withheld] who is the chairman on media, and we have Honourable [name withheld] who is the chairman, appropriation. The four of us have been […], if we are not capable of doing it, we wouldn’t have been appointed.

Q: How easy was getting the party ticket for you?

A: Hmmmm! It was a joke [with emphasis]. Easy? That word “easy” it’s a joke. Power is not served a la carte. There is nowhere in the world. Even amongst your fellow women, it was not easy. We […], the good thing was that we were favoured by our first lady who is actually very gender sensitive person, and the husband, the governor, His Excellency [name withheld] was actually willing even to have more women. So that one gave us an edge a little. But when it comes to taking it, it was not easy.

Q: I am interested in your experience.

A: Initially, they make it look as if “what does she have that we don’t have?” That is one. Two, when […], education is an advantage. And majorly women … since we have, like majorly this unsaid rule, that women must have 35%. Do you understand? It is a rule, but women believe, “If you can be there, I can be there.” So, you need to fight that. And if your immediate constituency as the women don’t even support you, you may have a lot of work, which happened to us. But eventually we had to shift our focus, we worked with the youth who still believe, “Since you are there, ok, we would work with you.” Gradually the women had no choice and say, “Ok, this is one of our own o, we must […]” when they saw the men grabbing this thing [almost taking all positions], of course the women had to look back and say: Ah! awon okunrin yi o ni gba o. ti a ba ti de be won o ni je ki a ri eni yi. (Ah! These men will not accede [to our demand], if we get there [to the assembly complex to see our elected representatives] they will not allow us to see this person).

Q: Are you saying initially, there was a measure of jealousy or what?

A: No in politics, you don’t call it jealousy. In politics there is this: everybody wants a good thing. So, it not a part of jealousy. If you have a slot, you can have 30 people, friends, siblings contesting for that slot. They will tell you: Nkan ti o da o si fun enikan. (A good thing is not meant for only one person). So, they don’t call it jealousy in politics, they call it a right. “Since I am a party person, I have a right to it as well.” When this happens and you eventually win and all that, don’t see them as your enemies. No o [emphasis]. You were just fortunate; anybody also [sic: someone else] could have been there. The last dispensation we had in Ekiti, the House of Assembly, I think about 85% of them were not even really lettered, and they were there, they were there.

[Phone call interruption]

Q: You were talking about tickets, the campaign and how you got here.

A: Yes tickets. We were, like I told you, we were lucky, we had a consensus. Though we had a primaries (sic), but it was a consensus. So that one actually […]. Now to the, the campaigns, it wasn’t a joke. We spent and we were spent. Because people felt, well we were given a consensus so we need to spend. We spent a lot of money. You see that is why I said it is not […]. Even if you went through the whole thing, without consensus, you went through the primaries and all that, you will still do that [spend a lot of money]. So, women, we were not given any preferential anything. It got to a stage they believe that: Ehn now, shebi e fe gbe ni. (Of course, you wanted it.) So go ahead and do the thing. And even then, before [now], it used to be free ticket for women. We paid. It was no longer free, we paid, because the men actually said, “We will collect the same salary when we get there.”

Q: This money politics thing, I feel that, when they say women don’t have money that is why they don’t contest. Personally, I feel it is not true. If a woman wants to spend […], but I think women are more reasonable when it comes to spending. They don’t want to spend lavishly the way the men would do.

• 12 A type of food made from soaked cassava.
• 13 Cow skin eaten as meat

A: I want to tell you something, nobody spends lavishly. People spend because of the conditions of our people. Because our people believe in this thing: Shebi o fe gbe apoti ni, ehn a na owo e ni. (You want to contest, then you have to spend the money.) And they go ahead, you know, make demands that […]. Some people sold houses, sold plots of land. It is not for the person, it is for you to […]. They would bring groups, groups come in every day. Some people go around recruiting people: O ya, e je ki a lo ba Honourable. Awon egbe oni fufu. (Ok, let us go and meet Honourable, the fufu12 sellers’ association). Another one will come: Awon egbe o ni ponmo. Awon kan. (The ponmo13 sellers association. Some others […]). Some they will say: Egbe alaso. (Clothes sellers association), vulcanisers association. You will keep giving. Awon egbe o ni sepe. (Association of local gin sellers) [Both laughed as it sounded sarcastic] You will do that. Nobody spends lavishly. The number of Ankara materials that I bought I can’t quantify. I kept on distributing, I kept on distributing. Elections in Nigeria is expen[sive], it is everywhere in the world.

Q: Everywhere in the world?

A: Everywhere in the world, because I have witnessed […], Trump’s presidency, I was in America, I witnessed it, it is everywhere in the world. Elections are expensive. And that is why when people come around to say: Ehn, this people steal money. Because society puts a lot of pressure on them. They go out to…, loan […]. Of course, everybody in this assembly is on loan now, because we need to do this and that. Immediately I got my […], we won elections, I had to sink a borehole in my Ward. 750,000 [naira], immediately after elections.

Q: Even without receiving the first salary [laughs]

A: Without receiving it. So, these are things that come around. And I am not, I am not subscribing to people running after the money or stealing money, no. What I am saying is, if you put a lot of pressure […], but it is for you and I to know where to stop. If they will vote for you, they will vote for you. It gets to a stage when you need to come and tell them that you are not voting for me, you are voting for your party. You are not voting for me, you are voting for your party. So gradually we start, but before you do that, that means your ticket is already in your kitty before you start looking at them in the face […].

Q: As a woman, I want to ask this question. What do you think female representatives support or advocate?

A: Of course, number one, women issues, youth […]

Q: Despite the fact that you have constituency that has both men and women?

• 14 The informal name ascribed to cyber-crime in Nigeria.
• 15 The National Youth Service Corps is a one-year mandatory programme set up by the Nigerian governmen (...)

A: Yes, you see, one thing is this, let me just say family issues. Like when I was campaigning, one thing I told them was that, I will work with women, but majorly I will work with the youth. You see the problem is this. This is a family, and what we have out there now, if you look at it, youths your age, they are into yahoo yahoo14. Youths your age are not doing anything. They are just loitering about looking for who to scoop. You see, people [will] soon come here now. Mo ni ki nwa ki yin ni. (I came to greet you.) Leave your house to come and greet me. Of course, when he is going, he expects me to do something. Do you understand. So, when we structure, when their lives get structured, it reduces the problem. Because I believe, I might be wrong, but I believe in Nigeria, the past 10 to 20 years, the home front has failed, really failed, and that is why you have all these youths […]. That is why you have parents going to church for thanksgiving because, his son, 18-year-old son has brought home a car. How? You are not interested. A daughter that you send to school: Ti ko wa gba owo ounje ni odun merin. (Who did not come to request for money to feed in four years) comes out graduate with a car. How? The home front has really failed. When a child is going to school, he is going to higher institution, and you give that [child] 20,000 and you don’t expect the child to come back after three months. Ah! Wo awon egbe e […], (Look at your mates […]). I actually had an aunty that told us: Ni ojo kan. (One day.) And said: No child of mine comes back home after four years of graduation, after graduation. It is from NYSC15 that you will look for means of survival. Yes, she said it. She’s been lucky. Child[ren] got married and all that. And I told her, “That’s wrong.” Nowadays, number one, that child will graduate, yes. The environment has to be conducive for the child to graduate. After graduation, e gbodo ba wa ‘se (You must help [the child) to look for job). You look for a job, you accommodate him, you look for where he would stay. She said, “Ah! wahala yen ti poju.” (That stress is too much). Noooo [with emphasis]. So, we need to do that, we need to structure the lives of the youths. And for the past 10 [to] 30 years in Nigeria, we have failed. I tell people, I don’t believe that bullsh*t that it is the economy. How much were our parents collecting when they sent us to school? How much were they collecting? They sent us to school, no matter what. Won a ni ti o ba ri ise teacher lo gba. (If you find a teaching position, take it.) They will encourage us. You don’t send a child away. When your child wakes up doing nothing, iwo na ati ba ti e lo, baba na a ti ba tie lo. (You have gone your way, the father has also gone his way.) So, when the child will come across with a laptop (sic), o pari niyen. (that’s the end). So, it’s like that, the home front has failed, really failed in Nigeria. So that is why I was campaigning with them. I will do more with the youths, with the mother(s), and even the father(s). Ti okunrin ba to okunrin, omo o ni ya wo. (If a man is man enough, his child will not go wayward.)

Q: That is on the family front. You talked about women issues too. What agenda do you have for women?

A: What we have for women is economic empowerment. You see, if you are empowered, the burden won’t be so much on the man, the man of the home. You bring five naira, you bring three naira, you come together […]. And nowadays, it is the women who maintain the home. A man gets easily frustrated unlike a woman. A woman will not get frustrated. She will say, “A jo ma wo ni, ibi ti o ba ma gba.” (We are in this together whatever the outcome would be.) That’s if she’s determined to do it, and she will get there. So, we thought of ways to encourage them, explain to them […]. Then on health issues, we made up our minds that we would go for check-ups, we would encourage them, we will talk to them, we would, you know, enlighten them on health issues which is one bane with women.

Q: How do you want to help family correct the family ills that you have identified?

A: I will keep on talking to them. When we have the opportunity. Ok, e mu awon omo merin wa funmi. (Get me four people.) Out of the four, employ. If one or two can come out …

Q: Which ways do you empower them?

A: Oh! You have an opening. Like there was an opening two days ago, I just called, “Aunty, e fun mi ni oruko omo yin, e ni ki won wa ni ola.” (Aunty give me the name of your child, ask him to come tomorrow.) And if four people can be taken off the street at a particular point in time […]. I did that, every member here do that. If you can take five people off the street, it’s a long way.

Q: Some years ago, I had a conversation with someone who said some people were taken off the street to be given a job. These people left the job to go back to the street. Perhaps here there is issue of greed or whatever…

A: That was why I said the home front has failed. There are some lessons you teach your child, contentment. You see, when you have a child and tell that child to sIt down and take this to read. What you are teaching that child is having a reading habit. Do you understand? But when there is no way […]. You regularise a child’s life, a child that had not been in a regimented situation before. E kan wa pe nigba ti o ti di eja gbigbe. (You now called him when he had already turned a dry fish.) And you tell that child to sit down and work in an office. A child that, when he wakes up in the morning, he saunters out and comes back when he feels. Then all of a sudden, you tell that child to sit in the office from 8 to 4. Will it work?

Q: No.

A: My previous driver, that was what […], he felt I had put him under pressure, and he said he was leaving, because he is not used to it, because he is used to going […], smoke. When it is time: Sa’na si motor. (Translation: Ignite the car). You must live a better lifestyle, and if you don’t live that kind of life, what are you passing down unto your children. Of course […]. Ti won ba ri obinrin kan, won ma fun l’oyun. (If they find a woman, they will impregnate her.) And life goes on. And the girl too is like that. Ki lo se ri oun na? Omo ori irin, omo ori irin meji pade ara won. (In what way did he meet her? Always on the move, two individuals always on the move met each other.) This guy I’m talking about said he got married at 23. At 23, when you are supposed to be […], that is the time, won sese hand over structures of life si owo e. (You are just being given the structures of life.) O so ara e di husband, o so ara e di father. (He turned himself into a husband, you turned yourself into a father). You are still supposed to be your parents’ responsibility. Even when you are done with schooling, your mummy should be, one day: Mo sebe ranse si e, je ki ni ki aburo e lo gbe fun e. (I cooked soup for you, let me ask your younger sibling to bring it to you.) That should still be what you should still be doing. He is now 30, he’s seen it all, he’s seen it all so there is nothing […]

Q: What are the programmes you put in place to empower women? Mentoring programme, PET project…?

• 16 A type of fabric.

A: No no no no. What we do is, we mentor them. “This is what you can do, this is how you do it.” Train the trainers. They train them on what to do. Don’t deceive yourself. Immediately you empower them with money, if you give ten thousand, they will just use it to buy Ankara.16 But put them into places where they can learn. Let them get an awareness. “Ok. If I use 20,000 to buy plantain at Ilawe, if I bring it to Ado, I will make 25,000.” That is the way they do it. Do you understand? But if you say, somebody who has not gone through that training. You just pick her one day and say, “Take, 15,000, go to Ilawe and buy plantain.” She will just watch you go into your car. That is when she will remember that: Iya Lagbaja (a certain woman) wants to have a party, and use your money, and you go back to square one. We have to put them through a mentoring time, period.

Q: Do you have a platform for that?

A: We do, we meet, we meet with them. I do my own during constituency meetings.

Q: You are from which constituency?

• 17 A type of granulated flour made from cassava
• 18 A type of flour made from either yam or cassava
• 19 Village farm markets
• 20 A type of measurement can similar in size to a metallic bucket
• 21 A type of small container used for measuring mostly grain and powdered commodities

A: … During constituency meetings, that is when we start talking, that: Ok, tomorrow, we have this, this person would come and train us on how to make garri.17 So those interested will come. Before you start that, you tell them the profit. I was talking to somebody yesterday. I said, “Look at me, I sell garri, I sell elubo.18” The person was looking at me. Because I am in Ekiti now, I went to trade with the illiterates. That was when I realised that when we go to the, we call it Oja Oko,19 we take the garri. For one Garawa,20 you get 17 congo21 there. But when you want to measure back in town, it is 10 congos they call one garawa.

Q: Hmmm! Extra seven?

A: Extra seven, that is our gain. Nobody tells you about the extra 7. Even if you sell it at 200, 200, 200 multiplied by 7, that’s some money. But they won’t tell you that, except [when] you go into the training. So, if you buy elubo, and you grind, of 2,000 naira [sic]. On every two packs, you make extra 1 000. That’s simple arithmetic. They will not tell you. So, you go through those training. You buy a basket of tomatoes. By the time you pick it, maybe you find 100 good ones. The good ones, you go back home, you sell four per 100 (naira). Do you know how many?

Q: To do this, do you have grassroots organisations you liaise with? How do you mobilise those women?

A: Because they are in your constituency. Immediately you call constituency meeting, they will come.

Q: Irrespective of party?

A: No no no no. Majorly, you deal with your party members. Non-party members won’t come, they won’t come.

Q: Are they allowed to come?

A: They are allowed.

Q: And I hope you won’t proselytise when they come?

A: That is the more reason they won’t want to come. Do you understand? Because if an ignorant person sees them, they will go back to their meeting and say, “Ah! This person is going to [name of political withheld] now o.” Not actually knowing it is something she can [also] benefit from. So that is the thinking of our people.

Q: Do you have any NGO or any organisation that you work with?

A: [No].

Q: What is your relationship with other women in the house?

A: No no no no, because we experienced the same thing. And interestingly, the four of us, in the first dispensation of governor [name of governor withheld], we were all together then. Do you understand? So, we had worked together then. So, for us coming here, it is just like a reunion. So, the relationship is super.

Q: Is it like that for every other woman?

A: Because we […], I don’t know. But for us here […]. So, our project most of the time. Though because, we come from different constituencies, but we could ask, “Ok how did you do your own?”

Q: You try to domesticate it to suit your purpose?

A: Yes.

Q: How has your representation contributed to issues of gender equality?

A: We are fortunate anyway, very fortunate because we have a speaker who believes in what we are doing. We have, even our colleagues, the men, they key into what the governor is doing and […]. The governor just got an award yesterday concerning women and all that and all that. So, they key into. We don’t really have any problem concerning that.

Q: Because I have heard about a bill on gender […]?

A: Yes, we just passed it.

Q: Who sponsored the bill?

A: The first lady.

Q: Executive bill. So, any bill you have sponsored or you intend to sponsor?

A: I intend sponsoring one.

Q: And what is it talking about?

A: On the youth. I believe more in working with the youths

Document 6: Interview with a female lawmaker at Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA)

Site: Lagos State House of Assembly Complex, Alausa, Ikeja
Date: 15 January 2020
Time: 32 mn 48s
Language: English
Address: Lagos State House of Assembly Complex, Ikeja

Q: Thank you once again [student introduces himself and talks about his research]. So, I would like you to introduce yourself and give a brief description of your background.

A: Well! thank you very much. My name is Honourable [name withheld]. I am a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing [name of constituency withheld]. Prior to this time, I was the Councillor for my Ward in [name of constituency withheld]. I became a councillor in 2011. I also rose to be the deputy leader of the legislative council. So, you would see that I am actually not a green horned in the legislative business. So here I am at the upper chamber of legislature. I read History and International Relations [name of institution withheld] in my first degree, proceeded to [name of institution withheld] to study … That’s basically my background. So far so good, it’s not been a jolly ride into the business of politics. It takes a lot of willpower, sense of […], you know, you have to have the clear sense of judgement on what you want to become. You have to be able to have a thick skin as a woman. You have to be very strong; you need to remain steadfast and focused. So, you need all the support that you can get, you can never get enough. So that’s what I advise […] women who are actually in politics or who are aspiring to be in politics because you have to be a politician before you are actually able to be a lawmaker. It is also perceived that we lawmakers are the closest to the grassroots. Therefore, […] we need to understand the paradigm, both the paradigm and the paradigm shift of every enclave that we represent.

Q: Professionally what have you done, aside politics?

A. Originally, I am a broadcast journalist. I didn’t study broadcasting, it just happened, you know. It just came to me, and I have been in journalism sixteen years before I actually became a lawmaker at the local government level. So, you know […]. I […] have worked with so many stations, TV, Radio, as newscaster, reporter […]

Q. Maybe I have seen you on TV?

A. It’s possible, I have been on the news desk. My core competence is newscasting. I have been in marketing department, you know. It’s a very […], it’s a profession that you know, that encourages versatility. So, if you can be on the news desk, you can function in any department. So that is basically what I have done in the past before politics came calling.

Q: How did politics call you? What motivated you?

A: I have been in the business of having contacts with people from all walks of life. I have had to meet with people at the top echelon of government, and I have worked with them as well, ‘cause you know, most of the people who were my bosses at the [name of media company withheld] where I was a senior management staff. I also had the opportunity of meeting with people who were also politicians, who also were heads of the company. They were the ones who actually encouraged me to take up position in politics because to them they believed I have what it takes to become a very astute politician. I didn’t see it myself as a politician, but it just happened that somebody discovered me and so far, it’s been ok.

Q: In fact, I like the house because I have been to two [other houses of assembly] … This is highly impressive.

A. No, Lagos state is […], we operate above common standard of excellence. Lagos State House of Assembly, […] we are above common standard of excellence. So, this is Lagos state, we are a state of aquatic splendour and of course excellence. Anything we do in Lagos state stands out. We are the main, the core progressives, we are the progressives of Nigeria. So, anything you see in Lagos state must be very very […] different from what you see anywhere else regardless.

Q: So, if I may get the chronology of your experience, you became a lawmaker in 2011 on the platform of [the name of political party withheld] and then, for how many years?

A: Three years.

Q. Three years, and after that?

A: Yes, there was a vacuum. During the time I was out of office, I was doing other things, off course childbearing and all of that, family angle to take care of. So […], and then back again on track.

Q: Is this your first term or second term?

A. [Response withheld]

Q: How easy was it for you to obtain the party ticket? Let’s focus on, maybe this last election, from the [party] primaries?

A: Well, obtaining the primary ticket is one thing, winning the election [is another]. I would want to talk about the election proper. The campaign, and the election. You see, as a woman, if you want to aspire, [I] have seen women, read biographies of powerful women in politics all across the world and the challenges, the issues. The facts of the issues are always the same or quite synonymous. Women, we […] I don’t know why it is always so, that once you step up, you paste your poster, let’s take it from there that you want to aspire, you [are] doing three times the normal work that an average man contesting the same position would do. You don’t know why this is so? There is this societal stereotype. There is the societal perception that a woman is supposed to end up in the other room or in the kitchen. It is not so. Women are people God has given […], we are actually God’s perfection after men. After man was created, God himself was insatiable. He was not satisfied with His creation, when he created Adam and he thought to himself there are some other elements missing, […] and He came up with the concept of having a woman. Woman: W[h]o, man. A woman would complement the effort of men, and that is why you see in other climes, you see that women actually control their commerce, women control their economy, women control their polity. You see women rising to become executives of […] banks, institutions, financial institution. You see women becoming prime ministers, […] secretary of states of United States for instance. We had Condoleezza Rice and so many other women, powerful women like that. You see Angela Merkel of Germany. Germany of course you know is one of the strong, super nations of the world, and if they could entrust all their political authority and foreign interest in the hands of a woman, that should tell you something. The former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, so many other powerful women like that. So, if here in Africa, we cannot see why we need to begin to encourage our women, therefore we will be short-changing ourselves as a nation. So, it starts from when you now paste the poster, you begin to have problems with […] people around you, discouraging you, pull-her down syndrome, it is really bad.

Q: Is that coming from men or women…?

A: It comes from the society, from all, from all quarters. It comes from all quarters of society; it comes from all quarters. Men, women alike. The saddening thing is that your fellow woman will pull you down, your fellow will backbite you. I think we are not, we are still far from actually actualizing that dream of having women, more women inclusion in government.

Q: … So would you describe yourself as a feminist?

A. I am not a feminist, but I like to champion the course of women in a very liberal manner, in a very liberal manner that also shows to the men some level of respect as, the way God has depicted in the holy books. God has placed men on thrones, He’s made them the crown on our head. So, I would, I am just a nobody. Therefore, I cannot contest that, but I can just appeal that men give room for women to also become […]

Q: In what ways have you actually tried to do this? To champion the course of women?

A. I was just having a meeting with my staff, justly shortly before you came in. Apparently, I had discussed it. It feels strongly that we need to galvanize more women. In my community for instance, we have a lot of women. I see them sleeping on their oars, I see them doing nothing and I feel so sorry for the society these days, I feel so bad, things are really going deteriorating. Take a leap from the orientation of the people, it is so disheartening how downward people think these days, how people come up with very absurd, unimaginative behaviour. It’s so different from when we were growing up. And the things we see these days around us is scaring me. I see a lot of women leaving their job for the schoolteachers, nannies, house-helps. When we were growing up, it wasn’t so, and things are changing in a very negative way. If it was changing for good, it will be alright, but it’s going downwards and I think that, that’s also affecting women stepping up to positions of power and authority, because even in homes, we have a lot of women who have failed as mothers. That in itself makes the men feel, […] so uncomfortable when a woman comes out to say she wants to aspire. “Have you finished becoming the mother that you are? Or have you finished becoming the good wife you are supposed to be?”. “Have you carried out your marital obligation successfully? And you want to come and rule us? Madam”. That’s the perception. So, I feel strongly that we need to actually galvanize the women so that they can, they can have a refresh […] a refreshing sense of responsibility to the society.

Q: … At the supra-national level, the debate about the gender inequality is still very strong. So, in concrete terms, in what ways do you think that women are still not equal to men?

A. Like I said earlier, you want to fight a battle that you would win, you start with yourself. Leadership means doing the right thing, the right way. If you as a woman, you want men to see you qualified to become a leader, you show it by example. You need to actually, […] circumvent the impression, the negative impression they have about you. It’s gonna cause you hard work, but you have to do it. I am working hard here to let my colleagues in the house of assembly, the 9th assembly know that I come in peace, but I mean business. A lot of women need to do that, a lot of women are feeble minded, they get pushed to the side at every little […], how should I say, oppression.

Q: Don’t you think that is as a result of how the society is structured?

A: It’s part of it. If you have a patriarchal setting […]. Ok, let me take you into commerce. Why do we have women as the chairman BOT of banks? We have Mrs Awoyinka, we have this woman, the chairman of First Bank, Awosika, sorry not Awoyinka. Do you think it was served to her a la carte? No, it wasn’t thrown on her laps, she worked hard for it. There were so many other men in the bank but she had to circumvent every other negative oppression that might have been thrown her way. A lot of women need to be able to do that. If we have more women doing that, I am sure by [the] time we have 70, 80% of women doing so, the men will be tired along the line, even if we don’ t have it 50/50, we will come closer than where we are today. So, when we keep pushing, pushing further, we will arrive somewhere, some day.

Q: I am interested in associations or organizations you belong to?

A: I have been very very weak concerning belonging to associations. Recently I just join Rotary club. I used to be, well, a member of NUJ (Nigerian union of Journalist). Well, I am also a member of LASULAWS because, by virtue of being a student. Well I hope to become […]. Then, there is national women in politics […]. Well, I am not too keen about going into associations but just recently, I decided that, ok. Fine, I would, I have some associations I have become members here as well.

Q: But women association, for example, I know, National Council of Women Societies

A. No, not that one, it’s the NILO [not sure], women voters or something. My phone is not here, I would have just brought out the […] NILOWV [not sure]. So, so many other women groups like that. I belong to million women, the emerge women, these are groups, you know associations that encourage women to come out to participate in governance.

Q: What do you think that female representatives, like you for example, … find convenient to advocate or support?

A: First and foremost, if you are a female parliamentarian. First and first foremost, go and seek the blessings of your husband, it starts from your home. If you don’t have a husband, get support system, get a life partner that understands […] the tricks and the pain of the profession. Because at some point, if you need to breakdown, because then, bad days will come, somebody will hold you up. That aside, you yourself as a person [sic] must set your agenda, you must have your croc skin. A lot of things, instrument, tools are being thrown at women in politics just to pull her down. But once you have these things in place, your husband, first and foremost, get his blessing. If he supports you, nothing can stop you.

Q: You have some programmes, the things you want to sponsor, bills and motions and all like that, what are those things? The house is still young, I don’t know if you have sponsored any bill or if you would like to sponsor or jointly sponsor, and what are those things you really want to touch?

A. I have two bills in the kitty, I don’t want to mention ‘cause I don’t want copycats.

Q: It’s just for the purpose of research

A: No, I’m not going to mention it. We are actually working on two now, […] I don’t want to mention it now because before you know it somebody will snatch it. I won’t mention it, but over time, you will get to hear of it. This is the 9th assembly, we are still fresh in the day, we are […] starting and don’t forget that I also need to learn the tricks of the trade, I have to understand the workings of the house. […] you have to be patient, you have to understand the game, and how it’s played in the house, so that you can have your bills […] passing hitch free. So, you need to not gallivant, you have to take your time but I can assure you that, soon you will get to hear about them.

Q: Something just popped in my mind now. Like when you talk about the family […] I mean the home front, it corroborates what someone, a lawmaker in Ekiti told me. I have been there once, and I am still going again. So, if the home front is failing, who is responsible and how? Because you can’t afford for the home front to fail. If it fails, then the nation is doomed. who is responsible, how is it happening and what can we do to rectify that?

A. No, when you, if you want to create a home, it’s not one person’s job to create a home. Its two people coming together to say “yes, we are ready”. So, it’s a co-operation on the part of the man and the woman, the husband and wife. It’s not just you creating the home, … you need to actually be …, you guys have to be in sync. You need a nexus between your husband, you must always communicate with your husband. You have to, like I for instance, I have to make my husband understand, my day to day activities, we are always […], if we are not calling on the phone, we are chatting, if we are not chatting, I’m texting. He attends to the children when I am not there. Both of us don’t leave the house together on travels, somebody has to be […], I just got back this morning from aboard and my husband stayed with the kids. There has to be a synergy between you. A symbiotic relationship between you and your husband. So once the kids don’t feel your absence, […] somebody is filling in on your behalf, so they are not missing you as much. So, you need the co-operation of your husband, as a woman who wants to be successful in the face of the public. If you want to serve the public well. Because even the public will watch you, they will say things unpleasant to you. You can never satisfy people, people are terrible. Let me say it, our people are terrible. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, no matter what you give, even [if] you are distributing every pint of your blood, some people are just natural evil people, and they just want you down. So, you need somebody you can go back home to, to tell you it’s going to be ok. If you don’t have that, you are going to fail in the face of the public. But once you have that person still assuring you, that it’s going to be ok, you are doing ok, even if the heavens will fall in public, God forbid, you are still standing because “he said I am doing ok”.

Q: How would you describe the relationship in the house? Relationship among members now. Let’s start from the women, your relationship with the other two women

A: We don’t have any issues. As a matter of fact, even when I was away on this trip, one of them called to check up on me, just like when she travelled, I was also looking out for her. “Where are you” and she said she travelled and all that. The other one, it was my birthday, she came to see me with a cake. We have a very lovely relationship. I think it depends on the new member. If you open to let them say “hey! This is who I am, I am for peace”, people will receive you. And the same goes for the male members as well. When I came in, I came in with an open heart. I am very friendly even from the gate, from the security, I am very accessible, everybody is free to see me, I don’t have any barricade or protocols.

Q: “It is not easy to see politicians”. That is what they told me, “These politicians, you can’t see them”.

A: No there is no protocols. I am just open, see me, if I can do it, I tell you, if I can’t, I tell you. I don’t know how to lie. I am one of the very few politicians who don’t lie and I know a lot of people don’t like it, but it is fine by me, so that is just it. So, we are very good. I have a very good relationship with them. Like I always say, we forty men. I don’t see women among us because contesting and winning an election, that in itself makes you a man. It’s no tea party, it is no jamboree. I contested against an opposition, a PDP opposition, a man, and I won. I defeated him at the polls, and I took him out …

Q: The dynamics for women in such campaign and, men [perhaps], do you think they are different?

A: It depends on the people you are campaigning to. And first, like I always say, it’s 90% God, 10% your effort. Everything in life is destiny. If you are destined to be there, many people who chased after position, never got there. I am a realist. So, if God has destined that […], you can only try but if He says […], He has the final say. No matter how hardcore you want to be, you have to give God that credence in your life, in your destiny. He has His space in your life. Whether you are hardcore or whatever you think you are, He has the final say. So even if you spend all the millions, you have all the power, you are […], like the opposition, people were telling me that I couldn’t defeat [him] because has been on ground.

Q: [Mentions the name of the constituency]

A: Yes, that is one of the most volatile places in Lagos state. After [name withheld], [her constituency name withheld] is another volatile […], it is the second and most volatile.

Q: Ethnic tension?

A: Everything, it’s so complicated. That place is really complex. The complexity in my local government is too much, it is enormous. People, to my face, call me names and I was unperturbed. People told me to my face that I couldn’t win.

Q: Is your husband a politician?

A: Well! he is a politician but not from my […], and he doesn’t have any political office, but he understands politics. So, even when I come home and I am talking, he understands what I am saying. So that also helped me. And he also supplies his own ideas from his own experience in the past years. So, a woman just needs to have her feet on the ground.

Q: If you are to summarize, what will be your perception about politics generally?

A: Ahhh! politics, politics, politics, politics is very dangerous, politics is very dynamic, it changes. In politics you don’t follow the crowd, you follow the workings, you listen to the dictates of wherever you find yourself. Politics is very murky and very interesting.

Q: From the current happenings about the state of the nation, what are those things you feel are not good enough, and how do you think government can […]?

A: I would like to keep mum on that.

Q. I think I exhausted some of the questions I have here.

A: Yeah, that normally happen.

Q: I want to ask for a favour. I don’t know if I could get your contact, and perhaps when I start my write-up and I have some questions …

A. I will give my card.

[Exchange of pleasantries and taking of pictures.]