History and Structure of the National Coalition On Affirmative Action
by Oby Nwankwo (Mrs.)

The Nigeria Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA) was born on the 23rd of September 2003 at the end of a 2-day Public Hearing on Affirmative Action for Increasing Women’s Political participation in Nigeria organized by the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC) in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Coalition of Eastern NGOs (CENGOS), and the Women’s Committee of the House of Representatives.

The public hearing which was held in the House of Representatives Committee Room, National Assembly, Abuja was primarily targeted at the members of the National Assembly. The aim was to create awareness of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) among the legislators and urge them to domesticate it. By so doing, they would be providing the legal framework for the implementation of affirmative action measures for increased women’s participation in decision-making in Nigeria.

The Public hearing created a forum for politicians and women activists to discuss the need to adopt affirmative action policies in Nigeria in order to bring in women in the political arena. It acknowledged the fact that the domestication of CEDAW was the immediate pressing need. It is only when CEDAW is domesticated or a law on Affirmative action is passed that government would be ready and willing to adopt such measures.

Also in attendance were the then President of the Senate, Chief Adolphus Wagbara, distinguished Senators, Honourable members of the House of Representatives, chairpersons of the various House of Representatives Committees, representatives of NGOs and CBOs, member organisations of the Coalition of Eastern NGOs (CENGOS), Resource Persons from the USA, Brazil, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria, who made presentations on the experience of women in their various countries. Others present at the public hearing include professionals, activists, and civil servants, representatives of the Ministers for Women Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Information, participants at the then ongoing human rights advocacy training program from all over the country, etc.

The objectives of the public hearing were:
• To identify and examine strategies for ensuring at least 30% women representation in both elective and appointive positions at all levels of governance.
• To engage both the legislature and the executive on the integration of Affirmative Action principles in the national constitution and the domestication of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Nigeria.

The public hearing which was chaired by the Deputy Chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs, Mrs. Titilayo Akindahunsi who held brief for Hajiya Saudatu Sani, the Chairperson of the Committee, was formally declared open by the then President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Distinguished Senator Adolphus Wagbara after a keynote address by Professor Jadesola Akande, providing insight into the meaning of AA and the imperative of taking the Nigerian challenge as an urgent and critical issue.

In his remarks while declaring the public hearing open, the President of the Senate made a number of re-assuring remarks that would suggest a more women friendly policy and political environment. First, he expressed his deep respect for, and commitment to the cause of gender equity, noting that Nigerian women have yet to translate the potential force they represent into concrete gains and benefits for the entire womanhood. While noting that the modest increase in the representation of women in the lower chamber of the National Assembly from 12 to 22 following the 2003 elections (retaining the same 3 seats in the Senate), he stressed the need to positively empower women, especially in the economic realm, to enable them take their deserved place. He however, reminded women to take their destiny in their hands by remaining all-round vigilant. He assured that for the Senate under his leadership, issues of gender equity and good governance would receive priority attention.

While promising that the Bill on CEDAW will be pursued with vigour, he challenged women to set a target of 40 % representation in the interim with the hope of attaining 50 % in the ultimate. Participants took the stand that it was important to hold him accountable on this commitment by moving quickly to present a bill for the domestication of CEDAW and stressed the need for a coalition to follow up on this.

The Public hearing evoked in depth discussions on affirmative action which showed that even among the women themselves there is no agreement on affirmative action as the best strategy. Some legislators vehemently opposed quotas for elective positions. Their position was that it would not work, in spite of the successful stories of women from outside Nigeria particularly from African countries. The Public Hearing was a good forum to clarify issues. It was obvious that women who opposed it did not quite understand how it worked. The experiences from Africa were instrumental to a proper understanding of the working of the strategy.

One of the outcomes of the Public hearing was a document termed ‘The Abuja Declaration’ which called for the formation of a broad-based national coalition to pursue the goal of the Domestication of CEDAW. It also called on the government to domesticate CEDAW in accordance with Nigeria’s international obligations as a necessary affirmative step and to establish special measures to ensure that appropriate laws are expeditiously promulgated to guarantee women in Nigeria access and opportunity to positions of leadership.

The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is seen as a landmark convention in the promotion and protection of women’s human rights worldwide. The Nigerian government is a State Party to this important Convention (Ratified in 1985) that prescribes the measures to be taken to ensure that women everywhere are able to enjoy the rights to which they are entitled under the convention. Article 2, 4 and 7 reproduced hereunder are relevant to the discourse here. Article 2:
“State Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:
a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure through law and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle…”
Article 3:
“States parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the political, social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
Article 4:
“Adoption by States parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved.”
Article 7:
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right:
• To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies;
• To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government;
• To participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country.

As a State party, Nigeria is obligated to implement the Convention by using all appropriate means to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women without delay. Unfortunately, CEDAW has not enjoyed automatic enforcement in Nigeria due to constitutional constraints. Specifically, section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 requires legislative incorporation of international conventions into domestic laws before they can be legally enforceable. As long as CEDAW remains undomesticated in Nigeria, the government will be paying lip service to its international obligations under it.

As a follow up on the provisions of the ‘Abuja Declaration’, a Civil Society Roundtable on Affirmative Action was organized by CIRDDOC in collaboration with the National Coalition on Affirmative Action as part of activities of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments’ Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja, 2003. The Roundtable which was attended by Civil Society Organisations, politicians, Legislators, Judicial officers etc. was held on December 2nd 2003 at Osun Hall, of the Protea Hotel, Abuja FCT. The aim was to enable civil society and particularly members of the national coalition to deliberate on and work out legislative advocacy strategies to adopt towards the actualisation of a CEDAW law and an Affirmative Action law that will be applicable to all states in Nigeria.

At this Roundtable, it was agreed that membership of the National Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA) should comprise the following:
1. Representatives of Civil Society Organizations working on Affirmative action and related issues.
2. Representative of the National Human Rights Commission.
3. Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women or his/her representative
4. Chairperson of House of Representatives Committee on Women or his/her representative.
5. Chairperson of House of Representatives Committee on Media or his/her representative.
6. Chairperson of House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary or his/her representative
7. Chairperson of National Committee on Affirmative Action
8. Immediate Past Chairperson of House Committee on Women Affairs.
9. Representative of the Minister for Women Affairs.

The structure of the Coalition was agreed upon and a draft-working document was approved. The National Coalition on Affirmative Action would operate from a National Headquarters to be located at the headquarters office of the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Enugu, which will be the facilitating organization. There would be 6 zonal and 37 State Coordinators to run the affairs of the coalition at those levels. Each state branch of the coalition would comprise at least 10 member NGOs. Zonal and State Coordinators were nominated at the meeting. Model Zonal and State Action Plans were formulated for guidance of the Coordinators. (See Appendix 1 for Membership list of NCAA).

Other resolutions at the Roundtable were as follows:
1. That a Bill on Affirmative Action for increased women’s political participation be drafted and presented before the National Assembly.
2. That there should be sensitisation and mobilisation of women and gender sensitive men towards the domestication of CEDAW in Nigeria.
3. That the issue of mentoring young and aspiring female politicians should be vigorously pursued.
4. That state lobbying groups should be raised to lobby state assemblies for the passage of a CEDAW law in preparation for the domestication of CEDAW at the National Assembly.
5. That women who are already in appointive and elective positions should be co-opted in the advocacy on Affirmative Action.
6. Sub-Committees on Advocacy and on Drafting were constituted within the coalition.
7. The Advocacy/Lobby Committee was mandated to meet with the Senate President and other stakeholders to prepare grounds for the bill to be presented.
8. A meeting of the committees was scheduled for the next day, 3rd December 2003 at 10.00am at the CHOGM Commonwealth Market Place to work out details.

On the 3rd of December 2003, the Drafting Committee headed by Hon. Justice C.C. Nweze and the Advocacy and Lobbying Committee headed by Ms. Ngukwase Surma met and worked out the modalities for operation which was subsequently circulated to members. A list serve for the coalition called Affirmative Coalition list was set up where members could post information and also weekly updates of their activities. Ms. Nkeiru Obiora, a member of the Advocacy Committee moderates the list serve.

The summary of the model action plans for the National, Zonal and State Secretariats are as follows:
Action Plan of the National Secretariat:
• Produce and distribute one standard letter head for the coalition
• Produce and circulate one model introductory letter to the Speaker and principal officers of the State Assemblies.
• Facilitate the production of one model bill on Affirmative action by Drafting Committee.
• Facilitate the production of one model bill on CEDAW by Drafting Committee.
• Raise funds for the campaign and advocacy.
• Organise one National Workshop for all State and Zonal Coordinators on Lobbying and Advocacy.
• Organise one Retreat for principal officers of the National Assembly.
• Organise one Mid term National Review Meeting.
• Organise one End of Project Evaluation Meeting.
• Organise six zonal meetings.
• Produce and circulate the Full text and user-friendly abridged/illustrated versions of CEDAW.
• Produce Bill board, Stickers and pamphlets to popularise Affirmative Action
• Get influential Nigerians from different sectors, religion, and class to endorse AA and use their statements as advocacy materials.

Action Plan for Zonal Secretariat
• Convene quarterly zonal meetings – of all state coordinators to review state activities.
• Supervise and Monitor activities of state branches
• Ensure that state reports are sent to headquarters monthly.

Action Plan for State Branches
• Identify a minimum of six and a maximum of 10 NGOs, who have either worked with the legislature or who have lobbying and advocacy skills, to co-opt as members/allies.
• Convene a briefing meeting of all member NGOs, to discuss and approve the following: -
o Action Plan (model plan of Action)
o Assignment of duties (model list of duties)
o The Bill (model Bill) etc.
• Produce detailed Plan of Activities (localise the model Plan)
• Write monthly progress reports and send to headquarters (sample form)
• Write letters to (Use sample letters): -
o The Speaker & Deputy, State House of Assembly,
o Relevant House Committees’ Chairpersons & members
o State Governor (copy State AG)
o Political Party Women Leaders etc.
• Constitute State Women Mobilisation Committee(s) (sample letters attached)
• Suggested members of committee: - (Party Women Leaders, Women Political Appointees, Elected Women, Local powerful women mobilisers, Wives of traditional Rulers, Business Women, Women Judges, Women Academics, etc)
• Prepare and submit local budget (sample budget attached)
• Attend and Participate in the Advocacy Workshop to be held in 2004 and bring along any documents, publications or materials relevant to the project from within and outside your organisation.

State Activity Breakdown
• Briefing Meeting Agenda: -
o History of the Coalition – Public Hearing, ‘Abuja Declaration’, CHOGM (Abuja) Roundtable Resolutions, Outcome of the Inaugural Meeting of Drafting and Lobbying Committees, Structure of the coalition - Appointment of Zonal and State Coordinators, etc., Goal of the coalition (To domesticate CEDAW & get a law on Affirmative action).
o Identification of key players – those with contacts in the State Assemblies, those with advocacy skills etc. Set up core working group (State Committee of three NGOs) from among the key players.
o Commitment from co-opted member NGOs to work selflessly in the state branch of the coalition, mainstreaming AA issues in their NGO programmes, submit documents, publications or materials relevant to the project e.g. any existing laws from other jurisdictions on Equal opportunities, Affirmative Action, CEDAW etc.
• Organise one step down training for State Coalition members on Lobbying and Advocacy.
• Develop concrete work plan on Advocacy – Step by step activities with dates, time and venue, how often should the coalition meet, what are the activities needed to achieve this goal in the state e.g. formal and informal meetings with key officers of the State Assembly, identification of women in elective and appointive positions that would be helpful to the cause, organise rallies in front of the State Assembly, distribute widely abridged versions of the bills etc.
• Assignment of roles.

State Advocacy Plan of Action
• Adapt the model CEDAW framework (Bill) to suit local circumstances.
• Organise a Meeting with Stakeholders – Women politicians, etc. to produce a Situation analysis on the state of women’s rights in the State.
• Pay Advocacy visits to the House of Assembly – Initial meetings with Speaker and Principal Officers of the House (Chairpersons of Committees on Women and children, Judiciary, Information) – to acquaint them with the project and to source for sponsors of the bills.
• Organise one lunch meeting with Speaker and principal officers of the House.
• Organise one lunch meeting with members of the Women’s Committee only.
• Official presentation of the Bill before the House of Assembly.
• Organise three rallies –
• One outside the Assembly while bill is being presented.
• One on first reading
• One on second reading

Progress Report:
The activities of the coalition took off soon after the inauguration at the CHOGM. The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) made grants to CIRDDOC and WIN Kaduna towards the domestication of CEDAW and the achievement of affirmative action in Nigeria. The grant covered only National and State level activities. The programmes at zonal levels were shelved, as they were not approved by OSIWA.

At the National level, CIRDDOC produced two versions of CEDAW - the full text and a simplified/illustrated version - and is presently widely disseminating them across the country to stakeholders for advocacy campaigns, through the work of the State branches of NCAA. A uniform letter headed paper was also produced by the headquarters and distributed to all state branches. Other I.E.C materials including Billboards, posters, simplified pamphlets etc. were produced and disseminated at national and state levels. Model letters were prepared and circulated to branches for advocacy purposes.

A draft framework for the CEDAW bill and on Affirmative Action bill were produced by the NCAA Drafting Committee comprising Hon. Justice C.C. Nweze as Chairman, Chinonye Obiagwu, National Coordinator Legal Defense and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and Oby Nwankwo Executive Director CIRDDOC as members. The bill was circulated and states were asked to adapt them to their local circumstances.

On the 6th – 8th June 2004, the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC) Nigeria Enugu organised a 2-day retreat for legislators of the National Assembly on the domestication of CEDAW in Nigeria, to create awareness of CEDAW among the legislators and lobby for its domestication in Nigeria. The retreat was held at the Protea Ranch Resort Obudu, Cross River State.

The retreat was aimed at bringing together in a forum, distinguished Senators and Honorable members of the House of Representatives to discuss the domestication of the CEDAW bill and to work out concrete strategies for the achievement of this objective. The draft bills were informally presented to the participants for suggestions and advice on the best way forward.

The retreat which was an interactive session that elicited a lot of modalities for the way forward to ensure the domestication of CEDAW came out with a communiqué in which the participating legislators pledged their total support to the CEDAW and Affirmative Action Project. The participants resolved among other things, to present the Convention as it is, for domestication in order to avoid undue delay from unnecessary debates on what they thought were sensitive provisions of the draft bill. It was also resolved to get the CEDAW law out and use that as a stepping-stone to work on an Affirmative Action Bill. It was observed that CEDAW provides for affirmative action although it did not specify a percentage.

In August 2004, a National Advocacy training workshop was organised at the Kaduna by Women In Nigeria, Kaduna branch for NCAA state Coordinators towards the domestication of CEDAW at the state level.

State activities commenced soon after with the briefing meetings and consolidation of State branches. Each state branch received a seed grant from WIN Kaduna to operate. The states reviewed the draft bill and came out with their state specific bills, which were approved by the National secretariat. Each state also prepared a situation analysis of women’s rights in their states. At the end of the national workshop, each branch organized a step-down workshop for its members and allies. The branches also produced several I.E.C materials on CEDAW, which are also in circulation.

Advocacy is ongoing at the state Houses of Assembly towards the ratification of CEDAW for general application of the CEDAW law when passed. This is to satisfy the requirements of Section 12 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which provides:

“ (1) No treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.
(2) The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect to matters not included in the exclusive legislative list for the purpose of implementing a treaty.
(3) A bill for an Act of the National Assembly passed pursuant to the provisions of sub-section (2) of this section shall not be presented to the President for assent, and shall not be enacted unless it is ratified by a majority of all the Houses of Assembly in the Federation.”

Legislative powers are neatly divided between National and State Assemblies. The Exclusive Legislative List in relation to which only the national assemblies may make laws contains a list of items such as Arms, aviation, census, citizenship, implementation of treaties relating to matters on the exclusive legislative list etc. The Concurrent Legislative List contains items that both the National and State Assemblies may legislate on. An example is the Electoral law. The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation with respect to the registration of voters and the procedure regulating elections to a local government council; but nothing shall preclude a House of Assembly from making additional laws on the above, provided it is not inconsistent with any one made by the National Assembly. Matters that do not fall within these two lists are considered to be within the residual list.

Implementation of treaties affecting matters in the exclusive list is on the exclusive legislative list. This means that only the National Assembly is empowered to domesticate treaties on matters on the exclusive list. This was aptly reflected in section 12 above and for emphasis, subsection 2 of that section provides that this power of making laws in respect of implementation of treaties shall also include treaties dealing with issues not included in the exclusive legislative list. In other words, a treaty affecting a matter in the exclusive legislative list will come into force in Nigeria on incorporation by the National Assembly. If the matter falls within the concurrent or residual list, the treaty, will in addition, require the ‘ratification’ or approval of the majority of the State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria for it to become applicable throughout the country, when passed.

Women, children and human rights are not included in the exclusive or concurrent lists. They therefore fall within the residual list. It follows therefore from sub-section 3 of section 12 that no law passed by the National Assembly with respect to the implementation of a treaty dealing with women or children will be applicable to all states of the federation in Nigeria automatically. It will require approval of at least 23 Houses of Assembly. This is why the Child’s Rights Act 2003 recently passed by the National Assembly (which domesticates the Children’s Convention) is not applicable in any other state outside the Federal Capital Territory, and State Houses of Assembly are now being called upon to pass the law in their various states.

Because CEDAW is a treaty dealing with the rights of women, it falls within the category of treaties, which must attract “ratification by a majority of all the Houses of Assembly in the Federation for it to be of universal application in Nigeria.” To deal with this, the NCAA is also working at the state level. The state branches of the Coalition, each headed by a State Coordinator, are working towards the domestication of CEDAW or approval for domestication of CEDAW in at least 23 States Houses of Assembly.

The National Secretariat of the Coalition is collaborating with the Women’s Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Justice in its work to incorporate CEDAW into municipal law. With the efforts of the then Hon. Minister for Women Affairs, Obong Rita Akpan, the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has agreed to present the CEDAW bill as an Executive bill. The Ministry of Justice has packaged the bill and sent to the Federal Executive Council for approval. The bill has been approved and is awaiting official presentation before the National Assembly for the legislative action of domestication. It is hoped that by the middle of 2006, the coalition would have succeeded in securing the ratification of the Convention in at least 23 states i.e. two thirds of all the states of Nigeria. Advocacy activities are being intensified at both national and state levels. A Public Hearing on the bill will hold in the very near future in preparation for the national passage of the law.

Conclusion: NCAA was formed to follow up on the commitment made by the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Adolphus Wabara to pass the CEDAW bill anytime it is brought before the National Assembly in order to help women to get on board the political train. This is therefore the target for the coalition – getting both houses of the National Assembly to pass a law on Affirmative Action or domesticate CEDAW, which already contains provisions on Affirmative Action. A considerable progress has been made in bringing the issues to the front burner of public discourse.