The Secretary to Ondo State Government, Mrs Oladuni Odu, on Thursday, said she is ready to break the jinx by emerging as the first female Governor in the country in the 2024 governorship election in the state.
Odu, who stated this during a programme organised by the Correspondent Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, said that the time is ripe for the country to produce the first female governor.
The SSG, who expressed optimism about emerging as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, said she remains the best among those jostling for the party’s ticket to succeed Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in next year’s election.
According to Odu, her past experience stands out in terms of education and exposure, having served in various capacities in various governments and in the position to continue the legacies of Akeredolu if elected as governor of the state.
The Ondo SSG, who served as the Commissioner for Education in the state between 1995 and 1999 and Commissioner for Women’s Affairs (January to May 1999), said women’s leadership would provide quality and desired change with rapid development because of the family-centric blood that flows in them.
The former and first Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) (September 2003 – February 2009), specifically identified her loyalty to the incumbent governor as an added advantage for her ambition, saying she remains the best person to build on the “Redeemed Agenda” legacies of Akeredolu, having been in and out of governance in the last 27 years.
The first female SSG in the state lamented over the sidelining of women from the number one position across Nigeria since the return to democracy in 1999, said she is ready to rewrite history by becoming the first female governor under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Let us test a woman. The trailblazing character of Ondo State will start from all of us to convince people why they should look in that direction.
“And you are not just talking about anyhow woman but someone whom you have tried and tested. Somebody who has been around here knows her onion and knows the system.
“Because I am bold to say that of all the people who have come out to be aspirants, none of them is as exposed to governance as myself. I have been around this place, in and out of governance, in the last 27 years. So, I know what governance is.
“The men have done very well. I am not disputing that, but all I am saying is that we should try women.”
She frowned over the marginalisation of women, noting that several women across generations are doing well and succeeding in chosen careers.
“As a mother, a wife, a sister who has the compassion of motherhood in her. A woman who can’t hear her baby’s cry and turn a deaf ear. Somebody who knows her onion, somebody who will lift the state higher, somebody who is accessible, somebody who will be your own person, somebody who will listen to your plights, and somebody who will actually work for the good of Ondo state.
“I am so confident that having the first female governor will not be a difficult thing. It depends on the people and their mindsets, the way we talk to people. If you, as journalists who have gone far and wide and see what happens in other climes, if you keep telling people that it’s high time, we make a woman the governor of the state”.
While noting that gender constitutes an important unit of electoral and political demography, the SSG hailed President Bola Tinubu for aligning with the inclusiveness goal and the 35% affirmation agenda with the appointment of women in his cabinet.
The former Director of Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, and Federal Commissioner Public Complaints Commission added that any society that promotes the dignity of women and gives them the opportunity to thrive will experience rapid development.
