Women
By Emmanuel Oloniruha
Presidential Candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Dr Esther Okereke, says only two females out of 18 presidential candidates contesting the 2027 presidential election highlighted the challenges facing Nigerian women in politics.
Okereke stated this when she featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Personality interview series on Sunday in Abuja.
Okereke identified finance, cultural biases and political intimidation as the primary barriers suppressing women’s active participation in Nigerian politics.
“Women are usually scared for three reasons: money. You and I know how expensive it is to run election.
“Second is culture. We’ve been told and brought up to believe that women should not participate in politics.
“They make us understand or believe that, no, all we do is take our wrapper, chant, campaign slogan, go to the market, convince everyone to vote for the men.
“The third factor is violence. Women are scared of thuggery, bullying, intimidation in politics,’’ she said.
Okereke, however, said that the country’s political landscape was now going through transformation because there were now more “he for she’’ supporting women participation.
“There are now more he-for-she, men that truly want the women to come out, the men that have understood what role the women play in decision-making starting from the home,’’ she said.
The NRM presidential candidate added that with the peace accord that was signed by all candidates, she remained hopeful that the election would be devoid of intimidation to all female contestants.
“When we signed the peace accord, I told them I’m going to hold them to their words. I told them I’m going to enlarge and keep the agreement somewhere.
“That I will remind them, if anything goes wrong, if I ever get intimidated, if I or any of the female candidates get bullied, intimidated or in any way harassed,’’ she said.
Okereke also faulted the claims that women don’t support their gender during elections, saying it is part of tactics deployed by men to suppress female gender in politics.
“Most of those women you see, some of them, their husband had called them and said, you must put your vote for A. If you do not put your vote in that place, don’t come back home.
“Would they vote and lose their home? No. Everything still boils down to the men controlling the system’’ she said.
Okereke, who said that she was already receiving massive support across board, expressed confidence that her participation in the 2027 general elections would be impactful, as well as encourage other women in the future.
Okereke said if men could trust women with women to manage the home, they should also trust them to run the affairs of the nation.
“If you have trusted us that much to run the home, bring up your children, keep the home system running, imagine what we will do at the decision table.
“I do not bring you gender politics. I bring you blueprint with framework, a plan to rescue. Nigeria does not need another manager, Nigeria needs a mother to rescue her children,’’ she said.
She added that for over two decades the male folk had failed the country, saying “let’s allow a woman with a plan, a blueprint, a framework to try.”
Okereke describing women as the receiving end of economic challenges at all times advised them to rise up to the challenge, convince their relatives to vote for female candidates with capacity to change the narrative.
“Remember the Aba women riot of 1929, the taxation has not gotten to them, but the men were suffering, and they are feeling the heat.
“They were like, Omo, the way this thing is going, eh, the men are getting the heat. When they finish drilling the men, the next people, it will be our turn. No, let’s take to the street, let’s defend our men.
“What did they do? They didn’t have social media, they didn’t have the godfather support or godmother support, they have no support whatsoever. All they had was the palm fronds and their wrappers. But still, they succeeded,’’ she said.
She advised the women not to allow themselves to be divided by power mongers, but be united to rescue the nation.
She rejected the 35 per cent affirmative action benchmark for women, advocating instead for equal participation and balanced representation of women, youth, and men in governance.
Okereke stated that limiting women to 35 per cent in leadership positions constitutes a form of marginalisation that hinders effective governance.
She said that just as modern homes require the joint efforts of both parents to thrive, a nation could not achieve economic stability while excluding a significant portion of its population from key decision-making roles.
“Allocating only 35 per cent to women is still marginalisation. We are not asking men to vacate the decision-making table; we are saying, ‘adjust slightly so we can sit together.
“When you exclude half of a country’s population from decision-making, you cannot have a balanced, functional, or stable system.”
On her plans for the widows, the orphans, the youth, and People With disabilities if she wins election, Okereke said she would continue to amplify the voice of the maginalised groups, while prioritising their welfare.
“That’s something I would do even while sleeping, because that is what I’m already doing. I am the mother of the orphans, the first lady of the widows.
“I am the matron of those living with disability. I didn’t just get that, I didn’t buy the title, I got it on merit. It was from my duties in serving them that I got that.
“As a matter of fact, the widows were the first people to keep pushing me and say, please, our first lady, we want you to run for an office.
“That’s because of what I have done for some of their children. That is because of those I have liberated, reoriented, developed, and empowered,’’ she said. (NAN)(NAN)
OBE/FEO
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Edited by Francis Onyeukwu
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