The outgoing administration of President
Goodluck Jonathan boasts of an array of influential women, who command
much respect even among their male counterparts. Apart from the
President’s wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, who pundit say is always
interested in official matters and those who get elective and appointive
positions, it is believed that the influence of the Minister of
Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, made Jonathan’s administration
popular.
The two ministers currently head sensitive ministries in Jonathan’s government.
Likewise, the inauguration of Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s new President on May 29 will throw up
another set of influential women. Some of the women were believed to
have invested their energy in the March 28 pre-election campaigns in
which the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate won.
The women, parading what may be
described as robust credentials, braved all odds to contest elections
like their male counterparts to represent the people of their various
constituencies or districts.
A few of them, according to observers,
will wield a lot of influence in the incoming administration by the
virtue of their positions as the wives of the President or
vice-president, while others will hold sway because of the offices they
occupy in the APC executive committee.
Aisha Buhari
The 44-year-old wife of the
President-elect, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, will automatically become the
country’s new First Lady on May 29 after her husband’s inauguration.
The Adamawa State-born cosmetologist
attended the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where she earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration.
Though, some people have described the
member of the United Kingdom Vocational Training and Charitable Trust
and the International Health and Beauty Council as an introvert, she is
said to be a consummate politician and strong believer in the project
Nigeria. The alumnus of the famous Carlton Institute of London and the
Academy Esthetique Beauty Institute of France did tell everyone during
the pre-election campaigns that her husband, if elected, would give
women opportunities to contribute to the development of the country.
Hajiya Buhari demonstrated her passion
for the development of Nigerian women at a campaign rally in Edo State,
where she assured women that her husband would initiate policies that
would guarantee their improved living standard.
She said, “I am here to let Edo women
know that when my husband is elected into office as President,
insecurity, the girl-child trafficking, the plight of the widows in the
South-East will be looked into.
“There must be a cultural design that
can accommodate the widow. A design that would make the girl-child
comfortable wherever she is in this country.
“The portion of the girl-child is to
have a high standard and moral society for her to live in, get married,
have children, train them and also mould them to become future leaders.”
Dolapo Osinbajo
Little was known about Dolapo Osinbajo until her husband emerged as the APC vice-presidential candidate.
The grand-child of the late sage, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, is the leader of the Ladies Fellowship of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, Jesus House Paris, Banana Island, Lagos.
Described as humble and submissive wife
by those who are close to her family, she supported her husband in 2007
to establish ‘The Orderly Society Trust’, a non-governmental
organisation dedicated to the promotion of Christian ethics and
orderliness.
While others sought political offices to
touch the people’s lives, Mrs. Osinbajo yearned for a different avenue
to reach the larger society, especially the poor. She invariably wrote a
book, They Call Me Mama.
She said the drive to write the book
came from her experiences with some “street boys and men in Lagos
State.” According to her, she aims to use the proceeds from the book to
sustain her efforts in getting the street urchins off the roads and into
homes.
Mrs. Osinbajo said, “My weekly visit to
the boys in their hideout under the bridge for several years has filled
me with unforgettable stories. Reminiscences of these times are the
focus of this book. Our original meeting spot which was lovingly
referred to as ‘Under’, today; it has been transformed to the Muri
Okunola Park.
“To me, they are beloved children and
they call me ‘Mama.’ They are lost, but can be found. That was why I was
compelled to write the book and I dedicate the book to everyone who is
lost.”
Remi Tinubu
The senator representing Lagos Central
is an educationist, administrator, philanthropist and Officer of the
Order of the Niger. She was described as exemplary First Lady of Lagos
State between 1999 and 2007, during which period she founded the New Era
Foundation, a non-profit organisation, dedicated to youth development,
girl-child education, women empowerment and inspiring youths to
excellence.
It was believed that Mrs. Tinubu’s
re-election into the Senate in the just concluded general elections
would make her become more influential in the next government as she may
head one of the sensitive committees in the upper legislative chambers.
Influential women to watch in Buhari’s govt
As a senator, she hosts a quarterly town
hall meeting with her constituents to render accounts of her
stewardship and obtain feedbacks on their developmental needs. To date,
she has sponsored three bills to provide Social Security for Elderly
Citizens; seek the Amendment of the Labour Act to enhance employment
opportunities for women and a bill to provide Special Economic
Assistance to Lagos State in view of its status as a former capital city
and the commercial capital of Nigeria.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa
The Chairman, House of Representatives
Committee on the Diaspora Affairs, is also considered as a force to
reckon with in the forthcoming administration.
The dexterity with which she coordinated
the APC presidential campaign alongside a senator-elect, Dino Melaye,
had endeared her to the party.
Dabiri-Erewa was first elected into the
House of Representatives to represent Ikorodu Federal Constituency of
Lagos State in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. She also won re-election in
2011.
The former Chairman, House Committee on
Media and Publicity had sponsored a number of significant bills that
were passed by the Parliament, including the Freedom of Information
Bill; a bill for an act to ensure full integration of Nigerians with
physical disabilities and eliminate all forms of discrimination against
them; the Nigerian Infant Health Welfare Bill (ensuring every child
under five receives free medical care); Nigerian Diaspora Commission
Bill; a bill to repeal Nigerian Press Council Bill and replace it with
the Nigerian Press and Journalism Council Bill (strengthening the NPC
and promote responsible journalism and protect the welfare of
journalists in Nigeria).
Dabiri-Erewa did not contest for any
elective office in the just concluded general elections. Observers are
of the opinion that her performance as Chairman, House of
Representatives Committee on Diaspora as well as her activities during
the APC campaign will earn her an enviable position in the incoming
cabinet.
Hajiya Ramatu Aliyu
The President-General of the Global
Women & Youth Empowerment Strategy will no doubt command much
respect in Buhari’s administration by the virtue of her position as the
APC Woman Leader.
Like her woman colleagues, Ramatu Aliyu,
committed herself to APC’s activities to contribute to the party’s
victory in the last presidential election.
Aliyu demonstrated her commitment to the
party by mobilising the electorate, especially women, to collect their
Permanent Voter Cards.
“The collection of the PVCs represents a
veritable instrument to ensure that the people, to whom power resides,
exercise their franchise in the legitimate pursuit of free choice and
popular sovereignty,” Aliyu had said in a statement in Abuja.
Having capitalised on the numerical
strength of Nigerian women, the APC Woman Leader told her folks before
the election that without the sacred power to vote in a democracy, they
could hardly effect the change, which they desire for the sake of their
collective happiness and fulfillment.
He said, “Nigerian women constitute over
50 per cent of active voters during elections in the country. It is
therefore, important that they avail themselves of the historic
opportunity offered by the exercise to strengthen their electoral value
and consolidate their demographic advantage, especially as we approach
the 2015 general elections.
“Accordingly, I call on Nigerian women
to rise in unison and ensure their active participation in the exercise.
They should troop out en-mass and ensure that they collect their PVCs
so that their votes will not only count but make the difference during
elections.
“I urge that in the prevailing
circumstance, our women should reaffirm their faith in democratic change
and strengthen their resolve to enthrone good governance rooted in
popular franchise, free and fair elections and robust democratic
engagement.”
Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan
Though the Independent National
Electoral Commission declared that the Peoples Democratic Party
candidate, Mr. Darius Ishaku, won the Taraba State governorship
election, the APC candidate in the poll, Senator Aisha Al-Hassan, has
demonstrated that she is a force to reckon with in the politics of the
state.
Alhassan’s popularity grew after she
defeated three male aspirants to clinch the APC governorship ticket at
the party’s primary held at Jolly Nyame Stadium, Jalingo, amid heavy
security.
If Al-Hassan had won the Taraba State
governorship election, she would have become the first woman to be
elected governor in the political history of the country.
Al-Hassan, a lawyer by training, rose to
become Taraba State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
She was appointed the Chief Registrar of the High Court of the Federal
Capital Territory, Abuja, on December 17, 2003.
After she retired from service, she won
election on the PDP platform to represent Taraba North Senatorial
District in 2011, but defected to the APC to seek the latter’s
governorship ticket ahead of the 2015 general elections.
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