WHEN WOMEN MOBILISE, NATIONS TAKE NOTICE
Across the world, political history teaches us a vital lesson: when women organise and take ownership of a cause, their impact can extend far beyond the ballot box.
From Britain’s Women2Win and Labour Women’s Network to grassroots political movements in the United States, India and Africa, organised women have consistently built networks, mentored leaders, mobilised communities and contributed to political and national development.
History offers powerful examples. In Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings used the 31st December Women’s Movement to organise and empower women at grassroots level and was part of the team that helped build the National Democratic Congress, mobilising grassroots support ahead of its 1992 electoral victory. In Europe, Angela Merkel led Germany’s CDU/CSU to its strongest federal election result since 1990 in 2013. In the United States, Stacey Abrams helped build voter-registration and grassroots networks that were widely credited with contributing to Democratic victories in Georgia in 2020. And in India, Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress made women’s mobilisation a significant part of their successful 2021 West Bengal campaign.
The lesson is simple: mobilisation is leadership. It requires energy, resilience, organisation and the ability to connect high-level policy with ordinary people.
This brings us to Dr Betta Edu.
Emerging at just 35 as the youngest National Women Leader of the APC, and securing more than 2,600 votes at the party’s 2022 national convention, she demonstrated considerable experience in women’s organisation and grassroots mobilisation.
Regardless of political affiliation, that experience matters.
And today, that experience is once again being put to work.
As Director of Women Mobilisation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Edu has pledged to lead grassroots mobilisation across the South-East ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking in Owerri, Imo State, during the September flag-off of the distribution of empowerment items to women across the South-East, she said that once the campaign is fully activated, she would return to take the message directly to women — door-to-door, household-to-household, market-to-market and community-to-community.
That is precisely the kind of grassroots engagement political mobilisation requires.
Public figures can encounter difficult chapters in their careers, but those chapters should not automatically erase every capability, experience or contribution they have demonstrated. Assessment requires fairness, accountability and perspective.
Women should not have to be perfect before they are allowed to lead. They must be accountable, certainly, but they should also be allowed to learn, rebuild and contribute.
As Nigeria approaches another major political cycle, women will be key communicators, organisers, candidates, strategists and community mobilisers.
The conversation surrounding figures such as Dr Betta Edu, therefore, is also about whether Nigeria is prepared to recognise, develop and utilise the proven mobilisation capacity of its women.
As a woman, entrepreneur, former diplomat and advocate for women’s development, I believe strongly that we need more women prepared to enter the arena, build bridges and create opportunities for the next generation.
When women lead, younger women see possibilities.
When experienced women mobilise, communities become more engaged.
And when a nation gives capable women room to rise, learn and contribute, the nation expands its pool of leadership.
By Hon. Amb. Mary Manzo
Special Adviser to the Governor of Taraba State on Tourism and Human Capital Development; Entrepreneur; YES4APC Leader; Advocate for Environmental Sustainability and Women’s Development Champion.
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