By Ibrahim Garba
On Wednesday, October 23, President Tinubu dropped some ministers from his cabinet, including the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye
Her dismissal generated mixed reactions, with cross section of some Nigerian women vouching for her competence and others reading her for filth.
But concerns have been raised about the “ the new Minister of Women Affairs” Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim.
The President has not made public reasons why he laid off Barr Uju Kennedy, but was quick to nominate Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim who replaces her.
Imaan is currently the Minister of State for Police Affairs but will resume Uju’s position as Minister of Woman Affairs and Social Development.
Before becoming the Minister of State for Police Affairs, Imaan was the director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). But, she was removed from this position just five months later after former President Buhari faced backlash from nominating her, even though she was considered unqualified according to the agency’s law.
Following Imaan’s nomination as the new Women’s Affairs minister on October 23, some APC members from the South East and North Central have raised concerns about her integrity because the former Minister of Women Affairs was one of the political figures who advised Nigerian Women against joining #EndBadGovernanceProtest that took place in August. And they complied across board.
Even though it is too soon to tell whether Imaan will have the best interest of Nigerian women at heart while she serves as minister, there’s still a need to question her competence in this role.
Uju Kennedy point blank approach and her attention to details especially funding from development partners earned her many enemies within the corridors of power that felt asking questions about inflows suddenly became a crime. She was on the forefront for her advocacy on women empowerment, restructuring of loans and grants and her boldness in confronting institutional decays.
She was the most vocal and active minister promoting the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President and she equally remained committed to achieving the MDGs.
Nigeria is still far from achieving gender equality. 43.4% of women aged 20–24 were married before turning 18. The adolescent birth rate is 106 per 1,000 women aged 15-19, a disturbing increase from 120 per 1,000 in 2015. In 2018, 13.2% of women aged 15-49 reported experiencing physical or sexual violence from a current or former partner in the past year.
Document Women’s recent data shows that Nigeria has a femicide problem that’s on a dangerous rise. One woman in power cannot solve all these problems, but having the right woman for the job is a huge step forward.
Although Mr President quietly requested that she leaves but was done honorably in a way she can be more useful in addressing core issues that affect our women rather than mere workshops and seminars for the women in Abuja.
This government requires critical thinkers and sacrificing Uju Kennedy may create a huge gap in policy implementation.
