Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital disclosed that only two states nominated female ministers when he assumed office in 1999.
Obasanjo, who decried the low level of women participation in Nigeria’s politics, made this declaration while delivering a keynote address at a public lecture titled, “My understanding of Women’s Aspirations in Politics, Business and Nation Building”, organized by Initiative for Information, Arts and Culture Development in Nigeria and The American Corner, Ibadan.
At the event were Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo; former Commissioner for Education in Oyo State, Professor Bolanle Awe; Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state, Mrs. Atinuke Osunkoya; KOWA Party Presidential candidate, Professor Remi Sonaiya; Dr. Olajumoke Morenikeji and Mrs. Tolu Adeniyi.
Others are Public Affairs Officer, US Consulate, Nigeria, Ms Darcy Zotter, Mrs. Achenyo Idachaba and Mrs. Eden Ossai.
Chief Obasanjo said he was surprised that when he called the governors to nominate people as ministers, only two states sent names of women out of the 36 states in the country.
He added that he took the courage to search and add seven more women with the two nominated from the two states, the decision he said made him the first President in Nigeria to appoint nine female ministers in 1999.
Obasanjo, who urged women to continue to agitate for more women participation in politics, said that it was unfortunate that no woman was among the 50 people who drafted the 1979 constitution.
He said, “I am the first to appoint nine women as Ministers. I called the governors to nominate people. All of them nominated men except two. I appointed another seven women. I looked for seven more women and added them with the two.”
Obasanjo then charged women in the country to brace up by getting their PVCs and vie for elective positions in the 2019 general elections.
He said “We have women with good virtues in Nigeria. When I appointed a woman as Minister of Defence, there was uproar in the country, and I said that there is nothing bad in it, she performed well. What a man can do, a woman can do it better.
“When you finish a meeting with men at 11 pm, you will still see them somewhere and when you ask them, they will say they are still holding another meeting at 12, but when you finish a meeting with women at 11, they will go home and sleep and the resolution of the meeting will still be the same at 8 am the next day”.
The former President further eulogized virtues of women whom he described as agents of change, community mobilizers, peace lovers and agents of truth.
He said, “Women are agents of truth not only because they are our mothers, wives and daughters. I have highlighted some of the roles played by our heroines women like Queen Amina, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Madam Tinubu, they made their contributions.
“Any government that does not recognize women, that government is a failure. When women have equal opportunities, change becomes faster.
“My dear sisters thank God that you have the opportunity to go to school, utilize the knowledge you have. We have to put our load by the roadside and expect people to help us, if you don’t do that, people will not help you”.
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