We’re creating opportunities for women to lead in Oyo – Makinde

…wants imbalance in women representation addressed in governance

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said that his Administration is creating many opportunities for women to take leadership roles in the State, saying his Government has always been in support of initiatives and efforts that can help improve female participation in governance.

The governor stated this when he received members of the TOS Foundation, who paid a courtesy visit to his office, saying, “I am fully in support of every effort to increase women’s participation in politics.”

According to Governor Makinde, women occupy important positions in his administration, with the Secretary to the State Government, Head of Service and four female Commissioners in the cabinet.

He added that his Administration would remain open to collaborations that can promote gender inclusion, saying, “In Oyo State, we are a little bit different. The Head of Service, the SSG tick the box as far as gender inclusivity is concerned. Also, there are four female commissioners in the Cabinet. We have women as the Commissioners for Women Affairs, Health, Youth and Sport, and Special Duties.

“When we came into government in 2019, we only had one female member of the State House of Assembly. But today, there are two. Yes, maybe just a step, but we believe that step is in the right direction. But one thing that I will say is, all of them got their appointments on merit. It wasn’t about, oh, okay, I should get an SSG that is female, just for the sake of the optics. We are gender-friendly.

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“Yes, we are. I know what it is like to be gender sensitive. I will put a caveat to my support, and I can explain why. Sometimes, we think seriously about the problem that we are faced with today. Are the problems still going to be there tomorrow? I don’t know. If we are able to solve the problem, what should we do tomorrow?”

Reacting to calls from the Foundation to support the Bill for Reserved Seats for Women in Elective Positions, Governor Makinde said the challenges of imbalance in terms of women representation in governance must be approached with foresight, stating that he would support the cause but within a limited time limit.

Justifying his position, Makinde said, “On the political scene, our forefathers, the founders of this nation, negotiated independence. I have books that I have read about the proceedings of that negotiation. And they negotiated, one, federalism, because they knew that several ethnic nationalities are in Nigeria.

“So, federalism means everybody can have the opportunity to do whatever they think is best for their ethnic group. And then, they also negotiated multi-party democracy. People of Nigeria should have freedom to choose one party or the other.

“Now, through our journey, we had the civil war six years into practising that democracy. I also had the opportunity to engage with our military leaders. Of course, the way the military is set up is a unitary system. It is command and control. If this is the head of the government, then everyone else should toe the line. That is the formation of the military.

“And, in Yoruba land, if you ask somebody to make a dress for you, you should be sure that he will make it in his own image. So, that’s what the military did. I engaged them, I said okay, look, we are having 2-3% economic growth. And for all of this period, those kinds of growth could not really take us out of poverty. We can’t take enough people out of poverty with 2-3% growth.

“We must have double-digit growth for at least a decade before we can be there. But the foundational issues, which is federalism, not unitary type of government, and also multi-party democracy, are very fundamental.

“So, when I ask our military leaders, why did we destroy federalism? Why did we destroy multi-party democracy? Their answer to me was, well, you know what? When we got into power, we were just coming out of the civil war, the only thing we were thinking about was unity. How do we unite this country? It was a problem then. But since 1970, at the end of the civil war, we continued with the practice.

“So, our problem now is not the same problem they were faced with in 1970 that pushed us towards a unitary arrangement. So, is it not time to say, ‘okay, what are the real challenges that we’re faced with today so that we can design solutions around the problems that we have today?’ “I agree that today, there is gender imbalance. In 20 years’ time, will this still be the same situation? So, I will support the bill to the extent that there is a time limit set for that. Maybe 16 years”, Governor Makinde said.

The TOS Foundation had earlier renewed calls for stronger legislative measures to increase women’s participation in politics, urging the Oyo State Government to support the Reserved Seats for Women Bill.

Leader of the delegation, Osasu Ogwuche, said women continue to grapple with under-representation, saying “women remain underrepresented in politics despite the progress we have made. It is time to break the glass ceiling.”

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