- * Says 'My Govt Will Accord Women Adequate Recognition In Line With PDP Tradition'
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
The quest for more participation in politics by women received a resounding boost at Abuja on Thursday, May, 12, 2022, as top Presidential contender on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, said he would nominate a woman as his Vice if he has his way with his party.
Anyim made this declaration when he addressed former members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP in his Abuja Campaign Office ahead of the delegate Presidential primary of his party slated for Saturday, May 28, 2022, at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
The former Senate President and ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), while narrating the progressives inclusions of women in governance under PDP, however, explained that the PDP had always encouraged the participation of women in politics. He said that a woman was made the coordinating minister of economy for the first time; minister of petroleum for the first time Aviation minister etc.
Anyim promised to up the ante for women if elected as president of Nigeria in 2023, saying, "I will choose a woman as my vice president if I have my way." The proviso by Anyim, however, means that though he may wish to do so as a person, the decision of who becomes his Vice President may not be entirely dependent on his wishes.
Meanwhile, the former NWC of PDP led by former Minister Aviation, Ambassador Kema Chikwe, included the likes of Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, a former National Chairman of the PDP; Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun, a former Deputy National Chairman (South); Chief Olisa Metu and Hon Emma Ibeshi, two former Publicity Secretary of the PDP and Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu, a former National Vice chairman, South East of PDP.
Others are Hajia Ina Ciroma, a former PDP National Women Leader and former Minister of Women Affairs, etc, who met with Anyim for an interactive session in his office.
According to Ambassador Kemafo Chikwe, the visit was mainly to understand what they will tell other delegates and people that makes Anyim unique and what stands him out among other aspirants. Without really waiting for Anyim to blow his own trumpet, some members of the group who had related closely with Anyim described him as the leader Nigeria truly needs now.
According to Dr. Akilu Ndabawa, secretary, of Femi Okunronmu committee on ground preparation for the 2014 National Conference, Anyim has had both legislative and executive experience in government. Ndabawa stated again that, "if President Buhari, could attend Anyim's birthday, represented by his SGF, Boss Mustapha, Anyim's immediate successor in the office of secretary to the government of the federation, SGF, it means it was a payback visit for an excellent job done while in office.
" It means that in the eyes of the present government, Anyim never soiled his hands as the SGF," Ndabawa stated. He maintained that his interactions with Anyim all through the National Conference which he said was solely midwife by their host, Senator Anyim, showed that he is such a leader who can generate ideas that can settle issues in times of any crisis situations.
In response, however, to the encomiums showered on him by the visiting NWC members, Senator Anyim recalled his unique roles both as President of the Senate and as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) as his distinguishing factors.
He told the former members of the NWC that before he assumed the position of president of the Senate, the upper legislative chamber was in turmoil. Suspicion, lack of trust, cleavages to ethnic and religious leanings were prevalent in the Senate chambers. Anyim reminded his guests that building a consensus in a multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria is not a task every dick and harry could boast of.
But by His grace, Anyim told his audience that, "I brought peace, I brought love and I brought understanding to the legislature and the nation at large as I stabilized the system. The legislature began to function as a family and began to reason as members of one nation", he stated.
Senator Anyim however boasted that, "till date, that the solid foundation that l left behind has ensured that there's no impeachment in the Senate since l left office". He assured his visitors that he is coming to give leadership which its absence, he said, has been the bane of the country. Anyim promised that the same principles that guided his wisdom in leading the Senate will also determine his approach in governing the country as elected president in 2023.
However, in a related development, the frontline PDP Presidential aspirant, Senator Anyim, assured the Nigerian women that they would be adequately recognized if he becomes president in 2023.
Anyim stated this in Minna, capital of Niger State, while answering to complaints of marginalization of women in Nigeria, during his consultative visit to the state. He described women as one of the critical groups in Nigeria that he intends to mainstream into governance if he becomes president next year.
The aspirant shared with the frustrations of Nigerian women over the inadequate recognition given them. He said women in Nigeria are educated, experienced and very hardworking but regretted that they have not been given the opportunities to showcase their skills. He reminded women that the PDP is their traditional ally and that the setback women have suffered was because PDP lost power in 2015.
According to Anyim, mainstreaming the women would be one of the ways he intends to bring back the good old days of PDP which, he said, Nigerians have been yearning for since 2015. Said Anyim, “If you look at the Nigerian women, they are very educated; they are well trained, but they are not exposed to opportunities.
“I will say why should a woman be worried when I am coming to run a PDP government? In the last PDP Government, a woman was the coordinating Minister of the economy and Minister of Finance. A woman was minister of Petroleum and a woman was minister of Aviation”, the presidential aspirant recalled.
Anyim therefore urged women to vote for him in the forthcoming PDP primaries and also during the main presidential election next year to regain their glory and gain more recognition. NNL.
