Women in Nigeria make up nearly half of the population, but they are almost invisible in parliament. The country's senate has only four women compared to 109 men. In the House of Representatives, female lawmakers occupy only 16 of the 360 seats. Even more surprising is that all of Nigeria's 36 governors are men.

Gender rights advocates and civil society organizations are now throwing their weight behind new legislation known as the "Reserved Seat for Women bill," which could force change by reserving a set number of seats for women in federal and state legislatures.

"Only 4.3% of Nigeria's federal lawmakers are women. That's not representation, That's exclusion," Osasu Igbinedion Ogwuche, a gender rights advocate in the Nigerian capital Abuja, who is promoting the passage of the new bill, told DW.

"The current political landscape in Nigeria does not favor women's entrance into politics and governance because it's skewed from the very beginning," Ogwuche said, adding that the new bill would allow more women to contest for political office.

"Reserving seats for women,........

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