The Secretary to Ondo State Government, Mrs Oladuni Odu has urged the residents of the state to consider women for the post of governor in the next year’s governorship election in the state.
Odu, the first female SSG in the state, noted that no woman has been elected to the position since the return to democracy in 1999 in the state.
According to the former Commissioner for Education, Ondo State between 1995 and 1999, and Commissioner for Women Affairs (January 1999 to May 1999), women’s leadership qualities would bring about desired change and rapid development because of the family-centric blood that flows in them.
The SSG hinted that she remains the best person to build on the “Redeemed Agenda” legacies of Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), having been in and out of governance in the last 27 years.
She pointedly said she is the best fit for the governorship position after Akeredolu’s departure under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
She said, “Let us test a woman. The trailblazing character of Ondo State will start from all of us to convince people why they should look towards 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, somebody who knows her onion, somebody who 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”’
“A mother, a wife, a sister who has the compassion of motherhood in her. A woman who can’t hear the cry of her baby 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 person, somebody who will listen to your plights, and somebody who will 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 mind set, the way we talk to people. If you as Journalists who have gone far and wide and see what happens in other climes, you keep telling people that it’s high time we make a woman the governor of the state”.
