Female governorship flag-bearers of various political parties have guaranteed Nigerians that they will perform better than their male counterparts if elected to office as the country gets ready to elect new leadership in 2023 for the next four years at both the federal and state levels.
They made the commitment on Monday in Abuja at a consultative media parley hosted by Women Radio with assistance from UN Women and the Canadian government.
Women’s political representation in Nigeria has been steadily declining since 1999, according to the female politicians at the UN Women Country Representative, Beatrice Eyong. While the percentage of women in parliament has doubled globally since 1995 to 26.4%, this has not been the case for Nigeria.
Gladys Johnson-Ogbuneke, the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate for governor in Abia State, asserted that the people of her state have endured suffering for 31 years since its founding and emphasized that she would put education and security first.
“I watched with much sadness about the protests and movements in 2020. And I heard the stories about what goes on about police brutality in Nigeria. But I was very proud of the Nigerian youths. I was very encouraged that they’ve come of age, and that they could now boldly ask questions, so that got me into organising Zoom meetings with a group of them. And I found myself getting into civil talks and getting into civil political matters.
“Then I was also encouraged by them to come in and do something. We know in Nigeria, even though there is democracy, we don’t have any government that looks homelessness, education and any other social needs of the people. I plan to transform Abia State to a modern state. For 31 years, the best done by the people there is enough.”
“I am going to make sure that our schools are digitised. Abia State actually looks like a glorified village. When you go to Umuhai, there is nothing that anybody can copy. I promise to develop the state and do my best.”
In the same vein, the governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Niger state, khadijat Abdullahi, said despite the fact that the North-central state has the largest land mass in the country, the government has failed to harness its potential.
“I will engage in the industrial revolution. Niger State has generated a total of about seven trillion Internally Generated revenue and that even goes to payment of workers. I am worried that there has to be a state of emergency on water. We have four hydro electric power systems and at a time, we have powered the whole country before and we can still do that”, she said urging women to leave the comfort zone so as to change the current situation..
Also speaking, the governorship candidate of Action People’s Party, Delta, Anabel Cosmos, stressed the need for women to change the narrative.
“Women are suffering, our educational sector is suffering. With the little appointment that was given to me in Delta after I contested the governorship election in 2019, I was able to carry out some empowerment programmes in all senatorial districts. But I have decided to change. What we need is money. Let us support ourselves. Women don’t support one another. Enough of letting ourselves down in the public. We are managers in our home so we can manage our different States. I am here to challenge the men that I am going to do it better”, Cosmos said.
