The men take the decisions and women belong in the kitchen

When I arrived in Nigeria , I definitely wanted to know something more about the politics in this country. On TV I saw so much misery that had to do with the political elections, that it scares me a little bit to inform me about this sensitive topic!
But I took my courage and went looking for more information about the political situation in Nigeria. And here comes my story.

First we start with some general , and usually boring information about the politics. The existing constitution was adopted in 1999. In twelve northern states apply the Sharia, this is the  Islamic law. The mainly Christian south is governed by the laws of the government. The probability that the Sharia will be imported in the south is actually nihil. 

After a few conversations with the locals I soon reached the conclusion that the political system in Nigeria is not fair and undemocratic. And that really didn’t surprises me at all after what I had seen on TV. Half of the Nigerian population is younger than 18 and they have never experienced free and fair elections. This is terrible and frightening! Instead of cutting the bad politics in our Belgian country, we'd better be happy that we live in such a democratic country.

A common saying in Nigeria: "We eat at election time," which refers to the buying of votes of people who often almost have nothing to eat. Nigeria is a very poor land.

But what considers me the most, as a woman, is that Nigerian women are struggling to make their voices. The men take the decisions and women belong in the kitchen. This sounds really awful in my ears!
But I am glad to hear that there is a woman's organization who is fighting against it. The Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre try to increase the chances of female candidates in the next election. They do that with a training about campaign strategy and give them logistical support.

I really hope for the people here that with time Nigeria becomes a democratic country. This is not a livable situation!

Now I'm going to enjoy some of the beautiful Nigeria and I see you in Niger!

sources: 

http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2668/Buitenland/article/detail/1877684/2011/04/19/Tientallen-doden-door-politiek-geweld-Nigeria.dhtml
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria

http://www.landenweb.net/nigeria/samenleving/