On Monday last week, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women reeled out some disturbing statistics. On a day to commemorate the International Day for Women in Diplomacy, which recognises the different ways women are breaking barriers and making a difference in the field of diplomacy, the UN Women body pushed out some statistics that were not only sombre, but also sobering.

The UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous, dished out the statistics which point to how women have been treated in an increasingly defined masculine’s world.

Let’s see a few of them. She said 113 countries have never had a woman Head of State and only 26 are currently led by a woman. When you consider that the world has over 190 countries, then you will realise that the Beijing battle cry for women inclusion in politics was a mere blurt of emotion.

The UN Women leader, in a new figure on gender equality released on Monday, said women should be considered first as many countries head to the polls this year.

“As many countries head to the polls this year, we all must put women first, at the pinnacle of power, where and when it matters the most,” UN Women Executive Director said.

As of January 1, 2024, says Bahous, women make up less than a third of cabinet ministers in 141 countries. In seven countries, there are no women represented in cabinets at all. Globally, only 23 per cent of Ministerial positions are held by women. Women are also under-represented as Permanent Representatives to the UN. The statistics say as of May 2024, women held 25 per cent of senior ambassador posts in UN offices in New York, 35 per cent in Geneva, and 33.5 per cent in Vienna.

Indeed, the world has not been fair to women in the arena of political power. Strong democracies like Australia, United Kingdom and Germany have at a time in their annals elected female heads of government; but compared to the number of men that have held similar offices in these countries, the fraction of elected female leaders pales to insignificance. This is not so for the United States. With all her inclination to liberal democracy and human rights, the US only got her first elected vice president in 2020 when Joe Biden won with Kamala Harris as his running mate. Never in her long history of democracy since 1789 when the Office of the President was established has the US elected a female president.  Till date, 45 men have served in 46 Presidencies starting from the days of George Washington, the first American president.

So, why is political leadership elusive for women? Many leadership theorists have diverse reasons for this but the reality is that politics is largely a man’s game. A game void of morality, stripped of fairness, equity and justice. Politics is partisan, murky and sometimes fetish. Only men of steel pull through. Women are not wired for the physical rigour that politics demands of the players in some circumstances. Intellect for intellect, women can effectively match the men on the political turf; but only just that. They cannot match the machismo of men. But the demands of politics are beyond intellectual endowments. In some parts of the world, particularly in Africa, intellect is the least of considerations.

In Nigeria, for instance, the minimum qualification for a presidential candidate is a secondary school certificate even if it is a certificate with Pass grades and zero Credit grade. The physical abilities of the politician, his capacity to engage in violence, directly or vicariously, enhance his chances of relevance and victory at the polls. Even in countries where votes count, relatively so, the path to the polls is still paved with landmines and spikes scary enough to make the women cringe and beat a retreat. In situations where power is grabbed by the gun, military putsch, women are absent.

While it’s unfair to expect much from women to fancy the idea of seizing power by the gun, they have no excuse not to wrestle power from their male counterparts through the ballot. In many countries, women outnumber men in net population. During elections, it’s the women, not so much the men, who endure the weather, the pain and drudgery to queue at polling booths to vote. So, why can’t women out-vote the men and elect one of their kind whenever a woman is on the ballot? Big question. It’s simply because women are not helping women. For whatever reason, women are on the front row of opposition whenever their gender is on the ballot, either at primary elections (party delegates election) or at general elections.

Any Nigerian woman who has ever contested party or general elections will tell you that her most ardent opposition were her female counterparts. Women helping women is a mantra among the female folk but it exists only in words, not in action. The case of Dr Sarah Jubril, a Peoples Democratic Party stalwart is a ready example. In 2011, she contested in her party’s Presidential primary. She got only one vote; meaning that no woman voted for her including women who squirmed all over her as friends, loyalists and aides. The one vote she got was her own vote, yet there were scores of women who formed part of the delegates at the primary election. They did not find her worthy of their votes. Of course, she lost but she did not just bow out with her head drooping; she left behind a message for her gender. ‘My loss will haunt you’, she pelted at her female colleagues. While no one expected her to win, but her candidacy was a veritable vehicle for the women in the party to express their displeasure at the dominance of men in their party politics. A block vote by at least half of the women would have sent a loud message to the male folks.

Way out? Female politicians should never expect the men to fight for them and literally hand over power to them. They still have to fight their way through. Voter education among the female political community is highly needed at this time. Power is not served ala carte. You fight for it. No woman should expect support from her male counterparts. They, too, need the power to pump their ego. Women should help women at the very least, because whenever the fog clears, you will see, sweetheart, that it is still a man’s world; unfortunately!

First published in Sunday Sun