US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1151

UNCLAS ABUJA 001151 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
State for IIP/F/AF Esquetini; AF/PD Amirthanayagam 
Lagos for PAS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, SCUL, OEXC, NI 
SUBJECT: "If only Ms. Foster had come before the 
elections" - Nigerian Women lamented after Speaking 
tour of Stephenie Foster, President of Georgetown 
Strategies. 
 
Summary: Ms. Stephenie Foster, President of Georgetown 
Strategies, was on a speaking tour of Nigeria between 
May 8 and 17, 2003. During this tour, Ms. Foster 
addressed different women's groups including NGO 
leaders, academics, lawyers, journalists, and party 
activists on lobbying, advocacy, message development, 
and coalition building in Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Enugu 
and Port Harcourt. Additionally, a "Women In 
Governance" conference organized by the National 
Center for Women Development in Abuja presented a 
target-of  portunity for Ms. Foster to address about 
150 women from all over Nigeria on strategies and 
programs to empower women to participate effectively 
in the political process. End summary 
 
 
2. Date: May 7 - 17, 2003 
   Fiscal Year: FY - 2003 
   Quarter: Third 
 
 
Description of activity: Ms. Foster held roundtable 
discussions with women activists in Kaduna and Kano 
with advocacy and campaign skills as key concerns. 
Other issues raised include election irregularities, 
funding and resources for women political candidates, 
cultural barriers and family issues, need for 
empowerment of the girl-child, civic education at an 
early age, and better statistics on women. Ms. Foster 
also granted interviews to the "Daily Trust" and the 
"New Nigerian," the two largest newspapers in Northern 
Nigeria. The sessions in Enugu and Port Harcourt were 
training sessions, while Lagos and Abuja featured 
breakfast and lunch with opinion leaders. 
 
 
Justification and objective: Although women were 
active in civic, political, and non governmental 
organizations that worked assiduously for the return 
of democracy in Nigeria, very few of them offered 
themselves as candidates in the 1999 and 2003 general 
elections. Even the few women who contested for 
elective positions did not fare well at the polls. 
Since representative democracy takes cognizance of 
both majority and disadvantaged groups, the issue of 
women's participation in the political process has 
been of concern to political observers in the country. 
PAS Nigeria invited Ms. Foster to share her vast 
experience, in both Congressional and Presidential 
election campaigns, with Nigerian women who have 
already begun organizing themselves to tackle problems 
inhibiting women's participation in politics. 
 
 
MPP umbrella themes: Strengthening democracy, 
especially widening the political spectrum and 
democratizing the political process. 
 
 
Result/impact: Excellent. "If only Ms. Foster had come 
before the elections" was the lament after every event 
at all program locations across the country, 
indicating that women would have fared better in the 
elections if they had the knowledge they gained at the 
sessions with Ms. Foster. They were, however, 
encouraged by the consensus that by lobbying and 
advocating for women's issues they can keep their 
political aspirations alive and simultaneously work at 
the grassroots level to build support. 
 
 
An immediate fallout of Ms. Foster's speaking 
engagement was the decision by three women at the Kano 
session to seek elective positions in the 2007 general 
elections. It is expected that more women will take up 
the challenge. Furthermore, the program brought 
together, for the first time, after the elections, the 
leadership of the women's wing of the ruling Peoples' 
Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Nigeria 
Peoples' Party (ANPP) Ms. Foster received wide 
coverage in both print and the electronic media. 
 
 
Non-USG sources of support: An umbrella organization 
of women activists in Kano provided venue and snacks 
at the one-day session for about twenty participants. 
 
 
Quality of agency support: Post salutes IIP/F/AF for 
selecting such an effective speaker and for recruiting 
her on such short notice Jeter