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The wife of the President, Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, on Monday in Abuja pleaded with
Nigerian women to vote for her husband,
President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015
Presidential election.
According to her, only Jonathan can protect
and defend their rights among all the
aspirants for the seat.
She also asked women to actively participate
in the on-going electoral processes in the
country, saying it was time for them to
compete favourably with their male
counterparts for elective positions.
Patience, represented by the Minister of
Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, made
the remarks while declaring open a two-day
National Conference on Women and Elections,
with the theme, “Enhancing Opportunities for
Women Candidates,” organised by the United
Nations Development Programme in
collaboration with the Federal Ministry for
Women Affairs.
She asked the electorate not to yield to the
advances of other aspirants, saying they
could not guarantee their freedom.
“I want to once again, urge you to continue to
give support to our dear President, who has
shown that he is not only gender sensitive
but believes in the power and capacity of
women to bring about change in society. He
has been doing his best to promote the
interest of women in Nigeria. It is now time
for us to show him our appreciation for all he
has been doing as he seeks re-election, “she
said.
While applauding the roles women were
playing to positively transform the society,
she noted that more Nigerian families were
investing in girls’ education, saying the
development would make women to be
politically and economically independent.
She said, “It is gratifying that more families
are today investing in girls’ education and
there are pointers to the fact that in the
nearest future, more women will be politically
and economically independent.
“However, there is the need to create the
enabling environment to enhance women
active participation in all areas of
development. We must as women begin to
aggressively unite, network and build
alliances across gender divide in order to
secure meaningful change.”
In her speech at the occasion, the Women
Affairs Minister, Hajia Zainab Maina,
regretted that women were not being taken
along in decision and law making.
She said, “The number in terms of female
representation in Nigeria reflects the almost
exclusion of women. With less than seven per
cent representation in elective positions,
Nigerian women are among the less
represented women in any sense when critical
decisions, especially law making and
distribution of the country’s resources that
have unprecedented impacts on their lives
are made.”
The Punch
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