Mr. Governor,
Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,
Executive Governor,
Ondo State.
March 2018
Sir,
PLEA FOR AN INCREASED WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN YOUR ADMINISTRATION
I wish to, on behalf of the good women of Ondo State, congratulate you on the mercy that brought you in as the Executive Governor of the State. It is our prayer that the good Lord that has seen you this far, will give you direction, strength and the grace to govern well.
Annually, 8th of March, is a day set aside to celebrate women all over the world. We are happy that Ondo State is part of the celebration. As we are commemorating this year’s International Women’s Day today; permit me Mr. Governor, on behalf of our dear women in the state, to make a plea for an increased women participation in your administration.
The role of women in the success of political journeys leading to the enthronement of leadership and by extension, democracy, at the Local, State and National levels remains unparalleled. Therefore, it is a necessary government’s duty to improve women participation in governance as a way of ensuring that they have equal opportunity to take part in decision making and leadership roles. This, will no doubt, strengthen democracy further in Ondo State and our dear country.
In the last 20 years, very few women had the opportunity of getting elective positions into the State House of Assembly, the highest so far was three (3), out of twenty-six (26) and now we have only two (2) female members in the Ondo State House of Assembly.
Since the declaration of 1975 as the International Women’s Year by the United Nations, attention on gender issue became prominent and this gave way to the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, which was held in Beijing. Today, many countries of the world are making efforts to bridge the gap between men and women in politics. Also, the Federal Government, in 2000, adopted a policy called the National Policy on Women to address the imbalance of women representation in the country and attempts to strike a balance.
With the new administration of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu as the Executive Governor in the state, it is our prayer and belief that the women of Ondo State will get the dividend of democracy, more than ever before, and be able to occupy their rightful positions in the comity of women at the National and International levels. The Ondo State women are, therefore, using this medium to appeal to you, as our father and Governor, to look into the National Gender Policy which prescribes that “the Nigerian Government undertakes Affirmative Action policies ensuring that at least, 35% of positions are given to women”.
Our Plea
Today, on the celebration of the International Women’s Day, we the women of Ondo State are hereby pleading for:
1. Increased women participation in leadership/decision making at various levels of government;
2. Improved women participation in governance through appointment into key positions where they can contribute to the development of the state;
3. Improved women participation in governance through elections into Counsellorship, Local Government Chairmanship, the State and National Legislative Houses, etc.
4. Encourage women participation in governance through the implementation of the 35% affirmative action in appointment into various political positions in the state and;
5. Encourage internal democracy that will mandate our party to give opportunity to our women to compete elections without being suppressed at the Ward, Local Government and State levels.
Our dear Governor and daddy sir, the above demands are dear to our heart and we are praying that the good Lord will give you the enablement to accede to our humble requests.
On a final note sir, let me assure you, on behalf of the women of Ondo State, our unalloyed support and prayers for the success of this administration.
God bless Ondo State.
God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Yemi Mahmud-Fasominu (Ph.D.) Dr. Toyin Alese-Ayimoro
Chairman: Ad Hoc Committee Secretary: Ad Hoc Committee
Mrs. Morenike Alaka
Member: Ad Hoc Committee
