What motivated you to go into politics?
My foray into politics was not something I planned for. I am an interior decorator and I also do printing. By the virtue of my business, I get to meet a lot of people and the same work connected me to many politicians. I also have passion for designing gifts. All these things allowed me to meet politicians of note early in life. In 2003, I met Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose and showed him some of the samples I made. He loved them and ordered some for his campaign. It was in the process I met a lot of people. Sometimes, he would tell me to attend to some people during meetings. So, I didn’t just wake up one day and say I wanted to be a politician because I didn’t know what politics meant at the time. My work connected me to Governor Ayodele Fayose and by the time he won the election, I was appointed a supervisor for health in the local government. It was from there that I started developing interest in politics and eventually became a politician.
Since you joined politics, what has been your experience?
I want to say that it has been tough and challenging. It has not been easy but as a public officer; someone who has served in various capacities; a commissioner in the teaching service during Governor Segun Oni’s administration, I contested for the Ekiti State House of Assembly in 2006, I served as a board member at School of Health Technology, Ijero, Ekiti State, I want to believe the major challenge we face as women is that we always want to be plain; we want to do things as they ought to be done which is not always a welcome development as people want it done the way they had been doing it. I always tell them that if we continue to do things the same way, we will continue to get same result. So, if you want to get a different result, one needs to think of what one can do differently to get a better result. However, when you want to introduce new way of doing things, you will have to step on people’s toes as they will see you as being proud. Personally, I believe it is better not to be a part of a system than to be part of it and not have an input. My input is always different from others. Most of the time in my local government, it was usually a one woman show because most of them believe with money, you can get things done and that with money, there is nothing you can’t achieve politically. I want to believe there should be decorum and truthfulness. Also, I believe the fear of God should be one of the things guiding me as a woman. Being a woman, people used to say she is a woman, what has she got to offer? That was one of the things that motivated me as a local government chairman. There was a time I commissioned a project and the chief of staff said he was surprised by my achievements as he was one of the few that said that Ekiti was not ripe to have a woman as a local government chairman.
Do you think women are fairly represented in politics?
No, but it is getting better. We are not fairly represented if we look at the percentage of women in the Houses of Assembly and House of Representatives. I believe it is our fault because we are not ready to support ourselves. We are not ready to vie for elective positions. It is our fault because we don’t want to be intimidated by men or be blackmailed. Fear of the unknown and failure is also another barrier to women. So, it is not the fault of the government or the electorate. We need to enlighten ourselves on the need to actively participate in politics. Also, established politicians should mentor other women. Women should be courageous and bold to come out. If we are able to manage our homes, we can manage anywhere we find ourselves. We should support any woman aspirant that is vibrant no matter her political affiliation. We have the number; we have what it takes to win an election. The worst woman ever is better than the best man. That is what I believe.
Do you really believe women will have a good outing in the 2019 general elections?
If we want to have a good outing next year, we need women who come from good families to contest elections. Women who know that when they fail, thousands of women out there have failed because when a woman occupies a position of authority and she does not do well, she has blocked the chances of other women. In Nigerian politics, money is a challenge for women in politics. People believe if you don’t have money, don’t come near politics. They don’t attach any importance to credibility, the electorate don’t want to know people who will make positive impact when they are elected, what they are interested in is the money they will get from the aspirant. This is because they believe it is whatever they are able to gather during election period that they will benefit from the aspirant. However, if a woman is determined and she has God’s backing and she believes in her vision, she will succeed in politics. It is not only politics that is challenging, life itself is a risk. Challenges are ladder to success, when you are being challenged, think of how best to overcome the challenge. If there are no challenges, there won’t be progress. So women should vie for elective positions and we should also support each other. In the future, we can register our own party; Nigerian Women’s Political Party, with INEC and pick women who will represent us at the state and national level. Before that time comes, let’s look at all the female aspirants contesting and support the best among them irrespective of their political parties.
One of the reasons some women don’t get involved in politics is the home front. How were you able to combine the home front with your political career?
It is not easy to combine the two especially if you are a nursing mother or newly married. Politics is better played when you have grown up children in the university and when you and your husband understand each other very well. When I newly came into politics, I had to go to Lagos virtually every weekend to check on my family. There were times I had to go during the week to check on the children in school. I am not saying you can’t be a politician if you are newly married; it depends on the level of understanding between you and your husband. But the best thing to do is to wait till the children are grown up because whatever we achieve in life, if we are not able to train our children well and make the home front comfortable, then we can’t say that we have achieved success. What I am saying in a nutshell is that there is time for everything.
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