Mimiko urges women to go into politics

Assembly elongates councils’ caretaker committees
The Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko has reiterated the need for women empowerment and active political participation as catalyst for rapid development and progress of the society.

Mimiko, at a workshop on Capacity Building for Women in Politics organized by Women Arise for Change Initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), identified education and safe motherhood as the most important variables in women empowerment, stressing that this accounted for hios administration’s decision to make free education and qualitative health service its priority.

“If we want to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of rapid development and progress, we must empower our women to be able to participate actively in nation building.

“You cannot talk of women empowerment if society does not deliberately invest in education and safe motherhood. Society must ensure that women do not lose their lives in the process of child bearing,” he said.
According to him, nature has endowed women with some responsibilities, which put them at a disadvantage when it comes to competing in the men-dominated world of politics.
He said that any serious government must deliberately craft policy that will take care of peculiarity of women, and that women, themselves, must not be shy to ask for concession as of right.

“Women involvement in politics will only come if society deliberately craft enabling environment for their involvement,” the governor said.

Prof. Friday Okonofua, Vice-Chancellor, University of medical sciences, Ondo, in a keynote address, noted that equal involvement of men and women in all aspects of development and society would pay off for the country as a whole.
Okonofua said that no nation could afford to ignore the contributions and economic and social capacities of both men and women in all spheres.
According to him, the development of any country that does so will ultimately suffer in the medium and long term.

“Lack of participation of women would mean that a major part of the skilled and well educated human resources would be wasted”, Okonofua said.

He called on government and political leaders to boost young women’s confidence in political knowledge, and provide them with information on issues that would make them feel qualified to run for office.
In her speech, the Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon Jumoke Akindele, noted that the political scenario in the state gives unlimited opportunities to women to showcase their potentials in the political circle.
She urged women to bring themselves to the fore of service to humanity and in decision-making process.

Meanwhile, the Ondo State House of Assembly yesterday approved the elongation of tenure for the Caretaker Committee of the 18 Local Governments of the state for another six months.
The approval was given during a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Jumoke Akindele, after the message from Governor Olusegun Mimiko was read on the floor of the House Clerk, Bode Adeyelu.