Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recently carried out a minor cabinet reshuffle.
On October 23, he dissolved some ministries and created some new ministries with the appointment of ministers to occupy the seats.
The discharged ministers are Minister of Women Affairs, Uju-Ken Ohanenye; Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John; Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman (SAN); Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo; and Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim.
The newly appointed ministers, who still have to be confirmed by the Senate, are Nentawe Yilwatda, Muhammadu Dingyadi, Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu, Jumoke Oduwole, Idi Maiha, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata and Suwaiba Ahmad.
However, despite an increase in the number of ministries, the number of men occupying ministerial positions has increased compared to women.
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu resumed office in 2023, he appointed 46 ministers, comprising 39 men and 7 women under the executive arm of government.
With this reshuffle, there are now 48 ministers in Nigeria, 41 men and 7 women. 85.4% of ministerial positions are occupied by men, compared to 14.6% of women.
This state of affairs goes against prior promises by the Tinubu campaign to advance gender equality, committing to 35% representation of women at all levels of government.
It is not only in the federal cabinet that this promise falls short. Low representation of women cuts across other arms of government.
For instance, in the Legislative arm of government, there are 451 men and 18 women occupying both the House of the Senate and House of Reps, which works out to 3.8% female representation.