Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele has expressed concern over weak investment in women’s capacity in Nigeria, which, according to him, has hindered the possibility of achieving the fifth agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr Bamidele said this in a statement in Abuja in a message to mark the 2024 International Women’s Day.

“In spite of the fact that we are six years away to achieve bridging the gap between men and women, Nigeria is still confronted with under- representation both in the corporate and public sectors,” he said.

He further lamented about how women are victims of armed attacks in different parts of the country.

The senator said, “Women hold only 3.4 per cent of federal legislative seats – four are 109 senators and 14 out of 360 members of the House of Representatives. Across all sectors, women inclusion is largely low in Nigeria whether in the corporate world or public sector.

“All these figures attest to weak investment in women and eclipse the possibility of achieving the fifth agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

He added, “The fifth agenda mandates the world leaders to invest in initiatives and programmes that bring about gender equality by 2030. 2030 is just six years away, and we are still confronted with ugly indices that remind us of the widening gap between men and women.”

The Senate leader, therefore, admitted that the National Assembly recognised that women’s inclusion in governance was pivotal to achieving sustainable development in Nigeria.

He added that gender inclusiveness was at the core of the Revised Legislative Agenda of the 10th Senate.

(NAN)