By Jalo Zainab
The emergence of a female contender as the winner of the All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial primaries is attracting divergent views on the leadership of a woman in the Nigerian society, especially the northern region.
The notion of democracy, which entails equal rights of interested citizens to partake or take up any political office is however questionable when it comes to the roles of women in the Nigerian democracy.
Historically, women taking up higher political offices like governors or presidents are rare in most countries across the globe including the United States.
In the Nigerian perspective, it can be viewed that so many strings are attached to the issue of women taking up a political position, such issues include but not limited to religious interpretations, cultural sentiments and societal beliefs.
Adamawa politics in the present 2022 have had so many interested candidates that contest for different political offices ahead of the 2023 general election, notwithstanding, the state has never recorded a female contender to the seat of governor until the present senator representing Adawama central senatorial district, Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani competed with five respective gentlemen who are former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, former governor of the state Muhammad Jibrilla Bindow, Umar Mustapha Madawaki alias Otumba of Ekiti, Wafari Theman and Abdulrazak Saad Namdas at the level of party primaries (APC) and won the victory. Thus facing the incumbent governor Fintiri in the forthcoming general elections, even though the Nuhu Ribadu faction alongside the state organising secretary of the party, another Ribadu are disagreed that the victory was without contentious hitches that beg for a fresh election, for which the fresh air advocates are smiling the disunity.
In respect to the above, opinions of the populace became so loud, making ripples within and outside the state. Some perceive it absolutely fine while others frown at it from the perspective of being unreligious as women are conceived as weaker vessels to run a home talk more of a larger society; the question of their position only at home and the other room.
The argument that sounds logical however is that which challenged the anti-women leadership as to why the elections and the legislative positions of Binani were left unchallenged if her governorship suitability would be put to questioning.