• Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact
Premium Times Opinion
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
No Result
View All Result
Premium Times Opinion
Home Opinion

Waiting For Atiku’s Women, By Banji Ojewale

by Premium Times
November 23, 2018
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0

We don’t expect Atiku to restrict the search for his female cabinet members and youth to the elite, urban areas, his party and cronies. That would again be taking the beaten path of barrenness that Nigeria has experienced since Independence. He should discard the so-termed iconic women by marrying town and gown in government.


There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. — Kofi Annan (1938-2018), former UN Secretary-General.

I am among millions of Nigerians who can’t wait for the day God will bless our dear country with a visionary and radical female president, along with a great host of the fairer sex of kindred spirit governing the states and heading the government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The tragedy of an effete economy, social stagnation and political paralysis that we have lived with over the years is the consequence of the neglect of this formidable section of society by our leaders. Developing society and its constituents boils down to making use of all the functional human capital at one’s disposal. The moment one succumbs to the so-called imperatives of culture, false religion or superstition, and one drops the women, youth and the working class from one’s strides, one begins to enter a reverse march. That’s been Nigeria’s misogynist history, always drawing us into the bottomless depths of backwardness.

The tale won’t change unless we get the right leadership to tame our coy attitude to the womenfolk and youth. Women are only marginally outstripped in population by men. Yet the men appropriate the nation’s immense resources in destructively disproportionate margins that leave the women with near-nothing to feast on. This has shut them out of the economic, political and social production processes. That’s an unfathomable force denied their much needed contribution to the country. The result: a colossal loss to the community and country.

But the story is about to change, going by the promises of presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar Atiku. He has been speaking of a policy paper, which says if he’s elected, not less than 40 per cent of his cabinet appointments would be women and the youth. His words: “…I give an undertaking that if by the grace of God, I am elected…at least 40 per cent of my cabinet would be women and youths…Our policy document…is dedicated primarily to creating an enabling environment for Nigerian youth and women to return to the path of wealth creation and gainful employment.”

We should be excited. Why? Because according to the World Bank, “Empowering women and girls (through vocational skills, education and political appointments) is not only the right thing to do, it also makes economic sense. Countries that invest in promoting the social and economic status of women tend to have lower poverty rates. For example, an extra year of secondary schooling for girls can increase their future wages by 10 to 20 per cent. And evidence shows that resources in women’s hands result in household expenditures that benefit children (and the family and society ultimately).”

What this implies and strongly advocates is for serious nations to strategically and sacrificially invest in their women; doing so is invariably securing society and its future. Niggardly funding for them and cancelling them out of the equation suggest we are not ready to follow this infallible thinking that is driving global growth policies. It predicts failure from the start, since a critical segment of the productive machinery has been excluded from participation in the nation-building project.

Atiku should resist the temptation to get a crowd of female proxies of the wealthy and powerful political class. They would crowd him and his vision out. And that would be the first step of an irreversible move of the juggernaut of cronyism to crowd out the whole country itself.


As we wait for Atiku’s philogynist cabinet, if he becomes president next year, we must engage him in a dialogue over the women of his dream. We must help him to pick them, as they would be answerable to us (the people) in the long run, and not to any godfather, president or political party. We need women in the politics of 2019, but not the likes of those on the same page with the men of the ruling class.

We don’t expect Atiku to restrict the search for his female cabinet members and youth to the elite, urban areas, his party and cronies. That would again be taking the beaten path of barrenness that Nigeria has experienced since Independence. He should discard the so-termed iconic women by marrying town and gown in government. There is a surfeit of truly keen women in the universities, in the civil service, and in the deep recesses of the countryside, who haven’t eaten the ‘forbidden fruit’ of political or public office. They are waiting to be unveiled for selfless national service. There should be a market women leader, female journalist, female school teacher or principal in the cabinet of whoever is voted into office next year to reflect gender power redistribution.

Atiku should resist the temptation to get a crowd of female proxies of the wealthy and powerful political class. They would crowd him and his vision out. And that would be the first step of an irreversible move of the juggernaut of cronyism to crowd out the whole country itself.

Ideally, Atiku should have started the campaign for a femalephile regime by opting for a woman vice-presidential candidate from the South-East. That would send a potent and transparent signal that there is no going back on the avowal of his project to rehabilitate our long forgotten women. A female vice-president in 2019 would be within a stone’s cast of a female president in 2023.

Pity, Atiku lost that golden opportunity! Nigerian leaders have always come close to fulfilling the dream locked in their promises. But alas, they never get there!

Banji Ojewale writes from Ota, Ogun State.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr

Related

Previous Post

Ndigbo and the Search For A Surrogate Mother, By Azu Ishiekwene

Next Post

2019: The Campaigns Have Begun, So What’s On Offer?, By Jibrin Ibrahim

Related Posts

Zamfara Gold As Commonwealth, By Zailani Bappa
Opinion

Sheikh Gumi, Governor Matawalle and the Sands of Time, By Zailani Bappa

February 2, 2021
June 12 As Democracy Day Needs To Be Reconsidered, By Bashir Tofa
Opinion

The Need To Act Now To Stop the Ethnic Conflagration!, By Bashir Othman Tofa

February 2, 2021
Kofi Annan: In Service of the World, By Ejeviome Eloho Otobo & Oseloka H. Obaze
Opinion

Biden’s Likely Policy Orientation Toward Africa, By Ejeviome E. Otobo and Oseloka H. Obaze

February 2, 2021
Agenda for ‘Born Again’ JAMB and TETFUND, By Tunde Musibau Akanni
Opinion

Oyeweso, A Celebrated Historian, Ascends the Sixth Floor, By Tunde Akanni

February 2, 2021
Before Nigeria Burns, By Akin Fadeyi
Opinion

Is President Buhari Presiding Over the Last United Nigeria?, By Akin Fadeyi

February 2, 2021
On A Soyinka Prize In ‘Illiteracy’, By Biko Agozino
Opinion

Obasanjo: Only Those Who Did Not Do Well Went Into the Military, By Biko Agozino

February 1, 2021
Next Post
Who Is Fuelling the Killing Fields?, By Jibrin Ibrahim

2019: The Campaigns Have Begun, So What’s On Offer?, By Jibrin Ibrahim

The Characteristics of A Just Leader, By Murtadha Gusau

Undermining the Peaceful Coexistence Between Muslims and Non-Muslims, By Murtada Gusau

Editorial

  • EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

    EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

  • EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

    EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

  • EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

    EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

  • EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

    EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

  • EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

    EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

Subscribe to our Opinion articles via email

Enter your email address to get notifications of new opinion articles as they are published.

Join 526,543 other subscribers

Most Popular

  • The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Islam and the Conditions For Marrying More Than One Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
    Islam and the Conditions For Marrying More Than One Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Women Prohibited For Men To Marry In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Women Prohibited For Men To Marry In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Importance Of Keeping Secrets In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Importance Of Keeping Secrets In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Revisiting the Corruption Theory of A Departed Journalist, By Banji Ojewale
    Revisiting the Corruption Theory of A Departed Journalist, By Banji Ojewale
  • The Qualities of a Good Leader In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Qualities of a Good Leader In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • You Will Be Held Responsible On What Happened To Your Children!, By Murtadha Gusau
    You Will Be Held Responsible On What Happened To Your Children!, By Murtadha Gusau

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Podcasts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

  • Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
 

Loading Comments...