President Muhammadu Buhari may have just won his second term bid but the race for his successor has already begun in earnest and some of the likely players when the 2023 polls get here will include women.
Despite the fact that a female president in Nigeria may look or sound impossible or inconceivable, but the truth is that the country is not short of qualified women to take over the Aso Rock seat of power from President Buhari.
This article takes a look at five of such women:
1. Olufumilayo Adesanya-Davis:
Olufumilayo Adesanya-Davis is a 56-year-old educational consultant and an associate professor of linguistics with specialization in applied linguistics and communication. The Kwara state indigent has a Doctor of Divinity (D.D) degree and Professor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) award of Northwestern Christian University, Florida, United States of America.
In January 2018, the cleric and founder of the Agape Bible Church signified her interest in running against President Buhari. But that wasn’t her first foray into politics. She reportedly lobbied for President Goodluck Jonathan to drop Namadi Sambo and choose her as his running mate during the 2015 presidential elections.
Even though she eventually dropped out of the race, she may have done that to build her fan base ahead of the 2023 race.
2. Oby Ezekwesili:
Oby Ezekwesili was the biggest female presidential candidate in the run-in to the 2019 presidential elections until she dropped out of the race in order to build a coalition that would provide an alternative to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
She has a lot of leadership experience as she has served as Federal Minister twice. The first was as the Minister of Solid Minerals and the second was as the Minister of Education. She also served as the vice president of the World Bank and was one of the outspoken voices when the Chibok girls got abducted by Boko Haram terrorists.
3. Oluremi Tinubu:
Oluremi Tinubu is a former Lagos State first lady and currently the senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District at the Nigerian National Assembly for the third consecutive time.
The only way for the 58-year-old eloquent and self- driven politician after serving the country at the Senate thrice may be up and she has all the right qualifications for the job.
An old article from Olatorera.com listed some of her achievements to include these:
“She has carried out many positive constituency development initiatives including; Post-Secondary School Scholarship Scheme [PSSS] –Annual disbursement of N100, 000 to 26 beneficiaries for four years, and 624 students of tertiary institutions receive N10, 000 as book bursaries. Grants to help 650 beneficiaries within her constituency to re-capitalize their businesses.
“She helped secure N377m funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund [TETFUND] for three institutions – Sir Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (N109m); Lagos State University (N108m), and Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (N160m). Through the Senate Committee on Education, she obtained Federal support for the rehabilitation of Jibowu Junior High School, Yaba [N21 million], Banjo Primary School, Otumara-Ilogbo, Ebute-Metta [N20 million] as well as N15 million each for Holy Trinity Primary School, Ebute-Ero, Ansar Ud-Deen Primary School, Oke-Popo and Ire-Akari Primary School, Orile-Iganmu.”
4. Adeline Iwuagwu-Emihe:
Adeline Iwuagwu-Emihe is an American-trained political administrator, who hails from Amatta, Ikeduru Local Council of Imo State, was an aspirant on the platform of the PDP in 2018 and it won’t come as a surprise that she still has her eyes on President Buhari’s job come 2023.
Image Source: Ventures Africa
When she threw her hat into the presidency race in 2018, she released a statement saying that she would take leadership to equitable distribution and management of natural resources of the nation, among others.
The statement said: “I believe that with the right leadership, equitable distribution and management of the nation’s given natural and human resources, it is possible to adequately provide for all citizens both big and small. Although the nation’s constitution is limited in its pagination, it is huge in its provision for equity and justice for all the people. We must use it as the common ground to love and care for one another.”
5. Eunice Atuejide:
Eunice Atuejide is the founder of the National Interest Party (NIP) and the party’s presidential flagbearer in the 2018 race.
The 39-year-old legal practitioner is well traveled and has visited no less than seventy-six countries and a hundred and thirty cities across the globe. She speaks Igbo, Yoruba, German, English and French fluently.
Atuejide owns EB Consults Limited – a consultancy company in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
Post a Comment