Monday, June 27, 2011

Sarah Jibril wants more women in Jonathan’s cabinet

The former presidential aspirant says there are not enough women in the list of new ministers

A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant in the April elections, Sarah Jibril, on Sunday, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint more women in his cabinet.

She said the legislature at the state level had set the pace with the election of speakers and deputy speakers. “If the legislature is setting the pace, then Mr President will certainly honour his words by honouring the efforts of the First Lady,’’ she said.

According to her, the challenge was now with the executive arm of government to ensure that women were given the chance to contribute to the development of the nation.

“I feel ashamed that in Nigeria, the politicians and the women are still wallowing in ignorance,’’ she said.

She blamed the political parties for not educating their members to mainstream women into politics.

Jibril noted that Nigeria as a signatory to several international conventions on good governance had no excuse not to carry its womenfolk along.

She said that she contested for the position of president because she believed in actualising the cause of Nigerian women. She said that women had contributed considerably to the development of the country, adding that more than 50 per cent of the votes that brought politicians into the various positions came from women.

She alleged that the men had controlled available political positions in the country to the detriment of the women, adding that women were not satisfied with the list of ministerial nominees forwarded to the presidency by state governors.
 
She blamed both the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and the National Council for Women Societies for not doing enough to ensure that women were strategically positioned in the last elections.
Source

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