Florence Ajimobi
The wife of late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the former Governor of Oyo State and President of the Senator Abiola Ajimobi Foundation (SAAF), Dr Florence Ajimobi, on Tuesday charged women in the state to take their rightful places and find their voice in politics as a woman with a voice is by definition, a strong woman.
Dr Ajimobi also urged people to stop underestimating the capacity and capabilities of women in nation-building, reiterating the importance of supporting women and deploying their capabilities in supporting efforts that can help grow the nation.
Ajimobi, who made the call at the inaugural meeting of the All Progressives Young Women Forum, organised by the Oyo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), themed, Capacity Building Advocacy Networking Mentorship, which held at the International Conference Centre, University Of Ibadan, stated that women must prove themselves and fight for their rightful place, emphasising that it is time for women to stop waiting for things to be handed over to them.
Describing women as pillars of the society, she noted that the strategic and indispensable role of women, especially youths in nation-building cannot be over-emphasised and urged them to stop fighting each other when they should be speaking out, working together and pulling each other up, reiterating that “you have the voice, you are all strong women. Therefore, let us all go out there and take our rightful places.”
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According to her, as the wife of the former governor, she used the platform offered her to mentor and empower women with business ideas, knowledge and financial support, adding that orphans, widows and the aged benefitted from the different poverty alleviation programmes.
“Indeed, we have continued with our mentorship of young women, advocacy against violence and discrimination against women on account of their sex. We have also encouraged our young women to speak up, rather than speak in whispers on issues that affect them in our women-focused intervention programmes.
“The Senator Abiola Ajimobi Foundation (SAAF), established in memory of my darling husband is in the vanguard of such advocacy and programmes and has partnered with the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), University of Ibadan, not only to advance the course of good governance and democracy that my husband stood for but to further mentor our young women and prepare them for more active roles in the position of leadership,” she said.
In her welcome remarks, the convener of the meeting and Oyo State Coordinator of the forum, Ganiyat Olawore said the forum was set up with the aim of “encouraging, inspiring, developing and strengthening the capacity building of young females in politics,” noting that over time, women have been subjugated to undue harassment and relegated to the background in all levels of authority.
“As a body, we refuse to accept the stereotype ways we have been dealt with, we have risen to match our male counterpart bumper to bumper, chest to chest, and with our strong voices.
“Women are the bedrock of the nation and a political deficit of one woman is a deficit to all women. We are ready to train, run, win and lead by uniting women’s voices, and supporting women; this will enable us to take Nigeria to where it ought to be”, she said.
In their separate presentations, a former Chief of Staff of Governor Ajimobi, Dr Gbade Ojo, a lead discussant, Mrs Adebola Azeez, Dr Sharon Omotosho enjoined members of the forum and young women generally to move away from the popular cheerleading role and seek more challenges to contribute to national discourse and development.
They noted that as the elections draw near, the speakers charged women to harness the potential of their numerical strength and support other women in their political aspirations and pursuits.
Dr Sharon Omotosho from theInstitute Of African Studies, University Of Ibadan, specifically stated that presently, women are at a point where they are seen but not heard, speaking yet unheard and misinterpreted when seen or heard, adding that they occupy less than six per cent of elected positions at federal and state levels, a figure that is far below the 35 per cent affirmative action and the 50 per cent parity based on global parity index
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