Buhari to appoint more women soon – Ex- Minister
Mathew Dadiya and Nafisat Abubakar, Abuja
Former Minister of Science and Technology, Dame Pauline Tallen has assured Nigerian women to expect more women from President Muhammadu Buhari led government.
Tallen, a former Deputy Governor of Plateau State gave the assurance on Friday in Abuja at the sideline of G20 Dialogue on empowering women to be economically self-sustaining.
The event which was organized by Gender Agenda Initiative and Women Situation Room-Nigeria (WSRN) was also aimed at promoting inclusive dialogue on governance, policy development and political participation.
According to the former Minister, President Buhari’s health issue affected his level of concentration also derailed more women appointments into his cabinet.
She however assured that with the President now hale and hearty, “more appointments for women are under way.
“More appointments for women in this government are not yet late. I strongly believed he has come back after his ill-health fully recovered.
“I believed the period he was away due to ill-health, he must have reflected enough and God has prepared him to come back and do something dramatic to restore the lost grounds where women are not being carried along. We are still trusting God that he would do something dramatic very soon.
The co-convener of project and host initiator of Gender Agenda Initiative (GAI) Adaora Onyechere, said that the event was convened to critically deliberate and make implementable recommendations in the areas of programming, policy development, capacity building, mentoring, empowerment, advocacy, political participation and the place of women in the economy towards mainstreaming gender and achieving the 2030 deadline goal.
She added that, “We will look at integrating and expanding the space to include the young female followers for preparedness and structuring for leadership, encouragement for those who are already taking the leap and solidarity with those who have the space.”
The Co-convener of the project and National Coordinator of WSRN, Joy Ada Onyesoh said the project aimed to economically empower and mainstream women beyond 2019 with the hope that “come 2023, more women would participate fully in politics and seize the initiative.
“The talk of restructuring is still ongoing, so we are looking ahead of 2019. We are putting this together to ensure women take their space when the time comes,” she said.
Speaking at the event, Prof Uche Azikiwe, wife of the first Nigerian Executive President, Nnamdi Azikiwe urged women to take education as such would empower them.
“Women would make more impact when they are educated as that would give them economic power. With this they can compete with the men in the political process in the country.
