Public relations and media professionals and other important institutions/agents of change in Nigeria have been urged to support advocacy for gender balancing, inclusion and fairness for the promotion of socio-economic development in the country.
The Head, Media and Public Relations at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mrs. Grace Bose Ojougboh, gave the charge while delivering a paper on gender balancing and fairness at the March 2022 monthly meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Abuja Chapter recently.
Speaking to NIPR members, including Fellows of the Institute at the event on the paper titled ‘Achieving Gender Equality In Nigeria: The Role Of Public Relations;, Ojougboh re-awakened the consciousness of the participants to the often-misconstrued concept of feminism and stressed on why the concept should be understood by all to actualise the lofty desire of maximizing the innate potentials of female gender towards achieving greater developmental goals in the society.
She equated feminism with the philosophical aspiration for gender equality as a fundamental human right, which also finds concrete expression in the Goal Five of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) centering on gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls with the hope to end all acts of discrimination against the female gender.
Ojougboh, who is also the producer/host of the weekly programme ‘Amazing Grace with Bose’ on YouTube, cited instances on why issues pertaining to women gender had not always received the expected attention of governments, parents, the media, communication professionals, traditional and religious leaders, adding that there was need for a change of narrative with respect to how issues pertaining to gender balancing and fairness are effectively mainstreamed into Nigeria’s developmental drive.
According to her, the continuous imbalance in women participation in politics and governance and all the sectors of the economy is glaring, as she submitted that, women are given almost no opportunity to participate in politics and in other spheres of life, this is in spite of the advocacy and call for inclusion and the strategies by various international agencies to reduce gender inequality to the barest minimum.
She said: “Only recently, bills seeking gender equality were rejected by the National Assembly. Appointments across parastatals are dominated by men, this has got to change. If we want economic growth, we must include women, women are transformational agents. We need much more that 35 per cent affirmative action.”
Ojuogboh pointed out that women represented about 50 percent of Nigerian population, which showed that Nigeria cannot afford to neglect the contribution of women to national development
Justifying the need for media/Public Relations practitioners to be at the forefront of driving the narrative for gender balancing, the guest paper presented also cited a study on media and gender inequality in Nigerian politics, which found that women were denied fair access to the media just as the study also identified media bias in the coverage of female news stories.
According to her, the findings of the study is a wake-up call that media and Public Relations practitioners have a whole lot to do in the fight for gender balancing in Nigeria.
The industry expert charged the practitioners on the “need to understand our social responsibility as perception drivers to promote unity, social cohesion, gender balancing/equality and the fundamental human rights of every Nigerian.”
She also urged them to be deliberate and intentional about their communication such that it builds understanding, trust, and acceptance and becomes a win-win for men and women alike and all who desire to see equal representation of men and women across all sectors of the society.
Ojuogboh stressed: “As Public Relations practitioners, we must help to create gender-sensitive and gender-transformative content that will change perceptions and break gender stereotypes. We must use every available medium to challenge traditional and cultural norms and attitudes that demean womanhood and does not serve humanity.”
