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| Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke |
By: Sunday Okobi
President Goodluck Jonathan has been commended for his
commitment and efforts at promoting the welfare of Nigerian women.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke, in a statement issued Wednesday, by the Publicity and
Information Manager of the ministry, Mr. Kelvin Allanso, on the recent book
launch in Abuja, titled: ‘Goodluck Ebele Jonathan: Champion for Women,’ stated
that over the past two years, Jonathan had appointed over 30
per cent of the women to top positions in government and also put in place
programmes and initiatives to help some of the country’s poorest women.
She said it was commendable that the president had fulfilled
his promise in the area of empowering, protecting and creating more
opportunities for women in Nigeria.
According to her, the recently directive to get more women
appointed to the boards of federal parastatals, a move the presidency hopes
states and local governments will emulate, is quite laudable as “it will
transform Nigeria in a way that has never been done before.”
The statement added that the book, ‘Champion for Women’,
inspected some of the many accomplishments of President Jonathan and his
administration, and “celebrates the growing power and opportunities for
Nigerian women.”
Commenting on the book, the statement quoted Alison-Madueke
as saying: “When Jonathan became president with the people’s mandate in May
2011, the process of change he had begun the previous year moved into a
higher gear.
“As well as promising to deliver economic transformation,
his campaign commitments including empowering, protecting and creating more
opportunities for women, for the first time in Nigerian history, Jonathan gave
over 30 per cent of political appointments to women.
“Whilst it may take a while to achieve all the economic
objectives, he wasted no time in fulfilling his promise.
“Therefore inaugurating this book is an opportunity for me
not only to express my sincere thanks to our president but also to show,
concisely, his robust and comprehensive articulation of the gender issue, in
his historic and groundbreaking appointments of such a high proportion of women
to his government.”
The minister further stated that President Jonathan was now
setting an example for the country that best results come from committed people
irrespective of their gender or status.
She said women we’re critical to the achievement of
Nigeria’s leadership quest in Africa and Jonathan’s government had acted
accordingly.
“This is, indeed, not just historic, but something special
in the history of Nigeria. Half of the world’s population is female, but the
international average of women in elected office is only around 20 per cent.
Look at the top office holders, and the figure is lower still; in Nigeria,
however, one in three members of the federal executive cabinet is a woman. It
is a fact of which all Nigerians, male and female, can be justly proud.
“And this is not just about ‘jobs for the girls’— there is
much more here than just making up the numbers,” the statement quoted the
minister.
The statement recalled that President Jonathan’s affirmative
action, sought higher representation of women — at least, 35 per cent in public
offices.
“Today, it’s worthy of note that apart from the 13 female
ministers, Mr. President currently works with many female special assistants,
advisers, ambassadors and directors. Indeed, the Jonathan administration is the
only administration in the history of Nigeria that has scored very high marks
on the empowerment of women,” the minister noted.
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