RSFW Takes  Day at Imo /Abia Constitutional Amendment public hearing  …South East Zonal Coordinator for RSFW Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack makes case for women Permanent inclusion 

By Ifeanyi Ndukwe

  The South East Zonal Coordinator for Reserved Seats for Women Bill Coalition, Ambassador Dr. Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack, has once again sparkled with her agitation for women inclusion in governance through Reserved Seats in the Nigerian Parliaments, from the National Assembly to the 36 State Assemblies in Nigeria.

  Presenting her position paper on subject during the South East Zone B, Imo and Abia States, Public Hearing on the Nigerian Constitutional Amendment, held at the Eze Imo Palace, Mbari Street Owerri, on Saturday, July 19th, 2025, Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack commended the efforts of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Amendment, headed by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu as well as the Nigerian Governors for paving the way for voices of Nigerian women to be heard in politics.

  Addressing the press after her presentation, Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack said: “You see, the Reserved Seats for Women Bill; HB 1349, as refered to in the Constitution, is a Bill not just for women but for Nigerians. It’s a Bill for democracy. It’s a Bill for justice. It’s a Bill that looks for inclusion of voices across the strata of the Parliament, from the House of Representatives, to that of the Senate and also at the State Assembly.”

  Continuing, Onyechere Sydney-Jack said: “What we spoke about clearly in the Hall is that the voices of women are excluded. I remember saying that when you come to the South East, the perspective is that we have over 20 million in population; 9.8 women are the population of the South East but 0.02 percent represent them in the Parliament.

  “In Abia, we do not have a woman representing in any form or figure. In Imo, we do not have a single woman. In Ebonyi,  we have one woman. In Anambra one; Enugu two. These are State Assemblies. These are the core of community development and when women lack in those institutions, it means that development is half way done.

  “So this Bill is speaking for additional Seats for Women only to run, with succinct Law for four election circles, which is equal to 16 years; let us have one Seat only for women to run among the themselves across the 19 political parties at the Senate, including FCT. One Seat only for women to run in the House of Representatives, to represent women and then three seats at the State Assembly across the 36 States, for women to run.”

  Furthering, Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack said: “So, what we are saying is that these Seats represent in the nation’s politics and when you talk about the nation, it means a complete combination of both gender, currency and the economy. The economics of excluding women is far detrimental than the economics of that we include women in the Parliament.

  “So, we are saying that be resonate and we are firm with the 10th Parliament for the great work that they have done. We applaud the Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu for taking the trojan horse and running with it and we say, do not rest on your oars.

   “The job is just beginning. Remember that the South East is highly peculiar by tradition and culture and we revere those cultures but when they exclude women, they exclude our development and we say to the Governors we thank them; the Governors Forum and of course the recent Communique signed by the Governors South East Forum; and also the TAS Foundation, the home of the Reserved Seats for Women Bill Coalition and that the leadership, of course Chief Osazua Igbinedion, who says that if women rise, Nigeria will rise.

   “I want to say again, the media this is your Bill. We need to see more women come out to say yes there can be ownership for licenses for women because women voices are represented in the National Assembly. We must be able to say that girls can dream but that dream can become a reality.”

  Ambassador Dr. Adaora Onyechere Sydney-Jack, a strong advocate for women inclusion in governance in Nigeria, has stoutly advocated strongly for women to have reserved seats in Nigerian Parliaments and she sparklingly marshalled out the accompanying points while doing her presentation in Owerri.