First Lady charges women on active politics

First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has called on women to be actively involved  in politics, at all levels of government, to enable them to get more leadership positions.

Dame Jonathan made the call when the National President of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), Mrs. Nkechi Okemini Mba, led a delegation of the council’s executives and state presidents on a courtesy visit at the State House in Abuja.
Mrs. Jonathan urged women to take advantage of the political opportunity given to women by “this administration,” saying the President believed in women and was willing to support them.

She called on the National Assembly to provide a legislative endorsement for full achievement of 35 per cent affirmative action for women.
She said: “The President is a listening leader and is willing to grant women needs because he believes in Nigeria women. I also appeal to the governors across the country to carry women along at the hem of affairs and political parties should give women a chance to thrive because no nation can afford to overlook the values women contribute to nation building if the nation must move forward.”

“Women have justified the 35 per cent affirmative action as they have proved their strength in office. Hardworking ministers deserve to be commended; look at the ongoing transformation in our airports today, if former Aviation Ministers had done half of what the current Minister is doing, our airports would have been of international standards like the Dubai Airport, J.F Airport in New York, Heathrow Airport in London, amongst others.”
Earlier, the NCWS president solicited the First Lady’s intervention to ensure that women “go beyond state and council chairpersons and emerge in party primaries as well.”

She gave the assurance that women would support Jonathan if he would run in the upcoming elections, adding that they would leverage on their political consciousness to ensure that women participated in full capacity.
She said: “We will leverage on the political consciousness accorded women by this administration and ensure women come out in large number for election in full capacity, and we will remain loyal to the actualisation of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.”