Kwara Commissioner Makes Case For More Women In Government

By Steve Oni, Ilorin

Kwara state Commissioner for Communications, Mrs Adenike Oshatimehin-Afolabi, has justified the greater number of women in the cabinet of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, saying it has reduced sharp practices in the government.

Addressing members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara Council, in Ilorin, the Commissioner noted that financial pressure on men make them to do what they are not supposed to do.

It would be recalled that the 16-member Kwara state executive council comprised nine women and seven men.

She said: “To a large extent, there hasn’t been anything like fraud coming from the women because you know that you men, you have many tentacles. You have many people you want to extend your hands to. As such, now that you want to do it, you’re being pushed. The pressure is there. Sometimes, you find out that men are doing what they are not supposed to do. But for women, the fear is there that I don’t want my image tarnished. And I would say, to a large extent, that there could have been a lot of that in this present administration, but with the involvement of women in the cabinet, to a large extent, that has been minimised.

“I will cite an example of what happened in the ministry of Agriculture where I was before my present posting to the Ministry of Communications. They tried to carry me along in a fraudulent sale of certain forms but the moment it came to my table that forms had to be sold, the first thing I asked was that, ‘do you have approval for this?’ They said that the permanent secretary gave the approval and I know that was wrong to do. And you know because I was a woman and I know the implications of my name getting in the mud, I was able to think through it very well. And the moment it escalated, the concerned people came to me to say this is what had happened. I stopped the sale of the forms and they still went behind me to do it thinking she’s a woman, we can do what we want to do. They sold about 15,000 forms. They remitted less than 3,000 forms’ proceeds, thinking that if they do that nothing will happen.

“What I am saying in essence is that, that happened because a woman was there. And several other ministries are like that.

“Women are also very conservative. You men, we pull you at home. We need this, we need that. Many times, because of the pressure that you have, you also overlook some things or rather it pushes you to do some other things that are not supposed to be done. But in the case of the women, when she’s given N10,000 to go to market, if you give a man same amount of money, the man wouldn’t be able to do what a woman would do. We are very conservative and that has helped this government a big deal. Because looking at the state we met this state, it would have been difficult to do anything, if, in the first instance, we don’t have a conservative principal, and as well a conservative executive council.

“Another thing that has been a plus in having large number of women in Kwara cabinet is what we are enjoying today having this interaction. Women are motherly. We want to help people out. We want to know your concern genuinely, and where we can come in. And that’s what we need in Kwara of today. There are lots of complaints. People have been bruised and battered. And who can then listen to them? Women have listening ears. And we try to put in our best. And these facts have really played out in this administration. So our boss, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has not made any mistake in appointing nine women out of the 16-member executive.”