President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may not be many things to some people but one thing most people will agree on is that he is a man of class.
Known to always go for the best, it is common knowledge that he has a knack for identifying, picking ad moulding people into good administrators.
One thing that is seldom talked about, however, is his taste in women.
Any close observer would have noticed that when it comes to his women, just like in other things, Tinubu does not compromise. He always goes for the best.
A look at his wife, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu will leave no one in doubt that when the president went to the market as it is often said in local parlance, he shone his eyes very well.
Mrs Tinubu is not just beautiful, but also holds her own as a female politician and three term senator. She is well-schooled too.
As a politician, it was glaring since 1999 that he was a man deliberate about creating opportunities for women and would always ensure he picked the best to work with him.
This high taste was evident once more in the choice of female ministers the president has appointed.
Right from the screening, the stellar performance by the female ministerial nominees, in the way they carried themselves confidently and engaged with the senators, showed the stuff they are made of.
Each one of them was able to prove their mettle as they answered questions posed to them convincingly
At a point, I began to worry that the female nominees were interrogated more than their male counterpart but my fears were unfounded.
From the oldest to the youngest, they demonstrated that they are not just beautiful but also intelligent, understand the problems of Nigeria and have the capacity to contribute positively to the development of the country.
One of the ministers, Hannatu Musawa is a lawyer, writer, newspaper columnist, and activist. Until her appointment, she was the Special Adviser t the president on Culture and the Entertainment Economy. Prior to this, she served as deputy spokesperson and deputy director of Public Affairs, of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council. She has six degrees to her name and aims for 10.
The youngest of the pack, 37-year-old Betta Edu apart from being a medical doctor, has also made her mark as a politician. She is the immediate past national women leader of the All progressives Congress (APC). She has previously also served as Special Adviser to the Governor of Cross River State on Community Health and was appointed the first Director General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency in 2016, a position she occupied till 2019.
She was then made the Commissioner for Health in the state, where she served from December 2019 to March 2022 before leaving to contest for the seat of the National Women Leader of the APC.
Medical doctor turned banker, Doris Uzoka-Anite, until her appointment was a commissioner for Finance and Coordinating Economy in Imo State where she has also proved that she is indeed a round peg in a round hole.
Former student activist, Nkiru Onyejeocha has been active in politics for many years and those who have encountered her will admit that she is no push over. Her foray into mainstream politics began in 2002 with her appointment as Commissioner for Resource Management and Manpower Development in Abia. She was later made Transition Executive Chairman in her local government in 2003. She is a four term member of the House of Representatives and once served as the Deputy Chief Whip
Stella Okotete in addition to other certifications, holds a bachelors degree in International Studies and Diplomacy, and is currently undergoing a master’s degree programme in Peace and Conflict Resolution and an Executive Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Abuja. She is a grassroots politician and mobiliser and has served as a councillor in the Ughelli-North Local Government Area of Delta State. She was also a special assistant to the Governor of Delta State on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and also worked served in the 2023 Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Transition/Inauguration Committee where she headed the Secretariat, Planning and Monitoring Committee.
Okotete is also a two term Executive Director of Business Development of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), a position she was appointed to by former President Muhammadu Buhari on 20 April, 2017
Uju Ohaneye is a businesswoman into real estate and education. A humanitarian, she went into politics with the sole aim to help the needy and was the lone female presidential aspirant of the APC for the 2023 election.
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim from Nasarawa state obtained her first degree in Sociology from the University of Abuja at 19. She was a Special Adviser on strategic communication to former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and was also appointed as a member of the economic advisory council in Nasarawa State by the governor of the state, Abdullahi Sule, in 2019.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim also served as Director-General of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) before her current position as Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, a position she assumed on 4 June 2021 and held till her appointment as minister.
Mariya Mahmud, the nominee from Kano State is a medical doctor passionate about women empowerment and education of the girl child. Under the immediate past administration of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, she served as commissioner for Higher Education in the state.
While it is heartwarming the quality of women that have been appointed, it is equally heartbreaking that Tinubu has only been able to give 25 per cent female representation affirmative action with the ministerial appointments, just like his predecessors.
Nigeria has a lot of qualified women who can occupy those offices and perform well.
It is therefore troubling that since 1999, no government has been able to give women their due and the Tinubu government is keeping with that tradition.
Some may say it is still early days and the female ministers have not had a chance to prove themselves yet but our people say “weekend wey go good, na from Thursday you go know.”
What this simply means is that their antecedents go before them and if that is anything to go by, one can confidently say President Tinubu went for the best.
It is now left for them to do what they are known for and prove naysayers wrong.
