I have often wondered at who would make a better President for Nigeria between a man and a woman. The closest this country has ever come to having a woman be at the forefront of political leadership was when Mrs Patricia Etteh held the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, effectively making her the number 4 citizen of the nation. However, being the number 4 citizen is all well and good, but is a certainly a long way off from being the number 1 citizen, on whose shoulders lie the full weight of the nation.
Even though Patricia Etteh is widely regarded to have failed in her time as the speaker, as well as doing the cause of further advancement of women in politics and nation building no justice, there are still compelling reasons to believe that a woman may perhaps be the one to put this country on the path that it truly deserves to be.
Women rose to unusual prominence during the second tenure of President Obasanjo. Never before in Nigerian political history had so many women served in government at such a high level. And not only did they serve, but their performances during that period remain as some of the best we have seen of any of our public officials since the return to democracy. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala brought a fresh and well-educated perspective to the job of Finance Minister, which her experience at the World Bank, garnered over many years, had no doubt prepared her for. The woman hit the ground running and through her extensive contacts was very instrumental to getting an unlikely debt relief for Nigeria, despite the view in the western world and media that Nigeria did not deserve any form of debt relief. Although this act was well lauded at the time, it may go down as one of the most unappreciated and fundamental things Nigeria as a whole has benefited from democracy in 11years. Following the debt relief, Nigeria’s credit ratings improved, more foreign investment came in and Nigeria’s foreign reserves were able to rise, thus significantly improving the value of the Naira for the first time since the early eighties.
Likewise, Oby Ezekwesili came in and shook up the procurement process of the country, arguably a source of large-scale corruption, via the Bureau of Public Procurement. Despite the fact that the BPP was widely labeled as the reason for delay in many projects taking off, Oby stuck to her guns so much so that many reviled her. Of course many of us now know that the reasons for project delays had little to do with Oby’s BPP and more to do with the incompetence of the various ministry staffers, who never thought to plan on time. Oby’s efforts at the BPP undoubtedly saved the country a huge amount of money. Who is the head of the BPP now? I cannot readily recall who it is, although I’m aware that the individual is male, a possible indication that the incumbent is either not pulling his weight on the job or at the very least is not as passionate about fighting the cause.
Another success story was Dora Akunyili. Though not in the executive arm of government, her activities at NAFDAC endeared her to many. Despite the fact that she was very vocal and for many, excessively so, the results of her efforts were much more vocal and louder than anything she might have said. She was so efficient at her job that assassination attempts were made on her life and the offices of the agency were attacked and burned down on more than one occasion, obviously by those whose ox had been gored by her crackdown on fake and adulterated drugs. So trusted were NAFDAC’s laboratory analysis on foods and drugs, that reports suggested that some other West African countries, devoid of the quality equipment at NAFDAC’s disposal, made a seal of approval from NAFDAC a pre-qualification for import into their own territories! In effect, NAFDAC had become the de facto NAFDAC of those other countries as well!!
And what were the men up to in that administration? Well, really…. nothing to write about!
It would appear that these three women alone have actually delivered better performances than all the men before and after them and that is really shocking! My theory as to why that is suggests that women are more motherly and thus appreciate the sufferings of others and take the necessary steps to do things right, are less prone to corruption, especially when their husbands are able to take care of them and therefore do not see the need to amass huge amounts of money for themselves. Also they possess more attention to detail and as such are able to fine tune processes and procedures that result in leakages. The men on the other hand spend too much time politicking, are always trying to amass money for their families and generations unborn as their “breadwinner” role would have them do and could care less about the fine print and therefore do not spot the many ways that leakages occur, other than the ones they cause for their own benefit.
And of course, if the above fails to provide enough evidence, Dora’s recent submission of a memo to ask the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to request our ailing President to transmit a vacation letter, which would enable Goodluck Jonathan to act as President, something all the other male members of the FEC did not have the pants nor the balls to do, drives home the point that women are more likely to be able to lead this country out of the darkness and into the light.
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