Dolapo Osinbajo, wive of the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, as well as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s wife, Tola; and the Minister of Women’s Affair, Mrs Aisha Alhassan, have called on Nigerian women to rise and participate in partisan politics, as a way of choosing the best for their children.
The women, who were in Anambra state for the 2018 Anambra mothers’ summit, said the time for women to take the lead in politics is now.
Mrs. Osinbajo, who addressed Anambra women during the summit, said women made lots of sacrifices to keep their homes, and if given an opportunity to lead would exhibit the same passion in ensuring the welfare of all, as a mother does in her family.
She said, “We (women) sacrifice all for others; we eat last in the family, we sleep last, we sort out everyone before we think about ourselves. Women think others first. If given opportunity to lead, she will do same.
“We suffer for our family and we cannot let others control their lives. Politicians are the ones who control our lives. So, we must all get into politics so that we can choose our own people to control our lives.
“The time has come for us to find our own. We must choose the right people to lead us, it must not be any woman but the very best of us. We must choose the best woman to entrust the lives of our people in their hands,” she said.
Mrs. Tola Obasanjo, while delivering her address, called on women to brace up and support each other for elective positions, as they remain the pillars of politics in the country.
The Minister, Mrs Alhassan, regretted that anytime a women came out for elective positions, she was blackmailed with tags that were not befitting of the noble role she plays.
She said, “It is only women that would wake up very early in the morning and start catering for the family and would also go to work and return again to take care of everyone.
“We are the reason our families are working well. So, why is it that when we come out for elective position so that we can make things work even better in the larger society, people begin to say that we are women and as such cannot do it. Go and look at all the countries of the world where women are the presidents and see how well things are working in those countries. We must unite and support ourselves now,” she said.
Wife of Anambra State governor, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, wife of the governor of Enugu State, Mrs Ugochi Ugwuanyi, commissioner for women’s affairs Anambra state, Mrs Ndidi Mezue and other speakers also reinforced the same position.
Mrs Obiano explained that the summit was an annual event which precedes the women’s August meeting and was usually an occasion for women to take a stand on issues that can better womanhood in the state.
She said, “Whatever we discuss here is what these women take home to the rural women, and that constitutes their discussion during their August meeting in their various local government areas or their communities.”
Obiano thanked the wife of the vice president for the gift of 200 bags of rice, 100 wrappers, 100 sets plate and 40 prayer booklets which she presented as gifts to women of the state.
Highlight of the summit was march past by women from all the 21 local government areas of the state, and the presentation of awards to three of the groups for excellent performance during the parade.
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