Nigeria, May 30 -- During his time as the governor of Lagos State, President Bola Tinubu's cabinet had limited female representation. For instance, in his first tenure, only three out of 24 commissioner appointments were women, constituting 12.5 per cent of the entire cabinet. Mr Tinubu's stance on inclusion, as reflected in his actions as president, is, therefore, not surprising. He simply appears to have continued with his trend when he became president, 24 years after his election as governor.

However, there has been a generational shift and louder calls for gender balance in Nigerian politics. Mr Tinubu's declaration in his inaugural speech also buoyed expectations that he had become more gender conscious. He promised to "prominently...