No Need For Scrapping Office Of The First Lady – Pastor

Pastor Nonnie Roberson

Nonnie Roberson, Nigeria’s women rights crusader and the founder of Nigerian Women in Clergy, has expressed her opinion on the presumed scrapping of the office of the First Lady.

Speaking with journalists on June 15 in Abuja, the female pastor stated that “the non-

recognition of the First Lady’s office in Nigeria’s political scheme of things is already taking its toll on the family as some husbands have directed their wives to idle away at home since even the president’s wife has no office that keeps her busy”.

According to Pastor Nonnie, the office of the First Lady is extremely important for the national development as president’s wife performs certain roles and has responsibilities.

“If you perceive that one or two first ladies misbehaved, you will also perceive that some did well. So, there should be no need for taking a drastic action abolishing the office of the First Lady. We shouldn’t throw away the baby with the bath water. We notice that they go out of the boundaries. We should find a way to curtail that rather than scrapping the office entirely. Like it or not, there were first ladies who played significant roles with strong and good initiatives,” she said.

The pastor noted that instead of scrapping the office of the First Lady, the government should focus on social development challenges that need to be immediately addressed. She also stressed the need for gender balance in governance, noting that the women are able to contribute to the growth of the country.

“Every man has a woman influencing him somewhere: the wife, the mother, the girlfriend. Somewhere, there is a woman doing something. So don’t underestimate the power of the woman. It is not a physical strength. The strongest man in the world can be pulled down by a woman. So if we channel that strength properly, it will do this nation a lot of good. This nation needs the strength of a woman right now,” she said.

However, when asked whether women in leadership position have performed well, Pastor Nonnie admitted that they have not achieved much.  She further noted that there is a wide gap in the ration and wondered how the effort of a few women can be compared with those of men in their number.

“In the just concluded election into the National Assembly leadership, no woman was mentioned. At least, in 2007, Patricia Etteh was nominated which she won. In 2007, Mullikat Akande was nominated though she lost but, this year not a woman was nominated in the election into any of the chambers’ leadership,” she said.

Finishing her statement the pastor called on the government to take measures and provide certain number of seats to women.

“Why are they not in politics, that’s the question, because, most of them do not have the power and the deep pockets. The way elections in Nigeria are being managed now, no sane woman has the guts to carry guns, ballot papers and run or send her youths out to kill one another, no sane woman has the guts to shed blood or do what the men in politics do. I am not saying all men do that, but some.

“So when things are sanitized a bit, then women who have what it takes, with the right character and can weather the storm can then come forward and participate. But right now, it is difficult for them to even win the primaries to be able to participate,” she concluded.

It would be recalled that Hajia Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has recently denounced herself as the First Lady of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She made this surprising comment during an “Appreciation Dinner” she hosted in honour of the All Progressives Congress.