By Hillary Asemota
The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has called on Nigerian women, students to support President Bola Tinubu in his ongoing reforms and initiatives that will better the lives of every Nigerian.
This is coming even as the Minister in Abuja last weekend rallied the National President of the Nigerian Students, Comrade Lucky Imonefe, Niger Delta activist, Mr. Asari Dokubo, representatives of Nigeria Labour Congress, Women and Cultural Associations from South-east, South-south, Middle Belt, South-west and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to Abuja against the planned protest by youth come August 1.
Addressing the media on Friday, after the cultural dance by the various groups, she said: “We are mothers, we had one day to organised what you are seeing here today that is in less than 24 hours and within that one day till early this morning when I made call to all these people that you see here today like Alh. Asare Dokubo, NLC, NANS and the others.
“They came from Lagos, Port Harcourt and from the North and I cried to them that we mothers don’t want our children to die.
“We are against this protect because, if it holds will shatter and dislocate the country even worse than it is.”
The Minister explained that she has been able to convince the women that came from across the country that they now have a President in the person of President Bola Tinubu and a Minister who have a listening ears and addressing their challenges.
While urging the women to give the President some time she said: “I have shown my women that they have somebody to fight for them and I couldn’t have done this if President Bola Tinubu, was not giving me support because they would have removed me, killed me or kicked me out but he stood by me and that is the backbone that I have and I that is why I can fight for the women.
“President Tinubu standing by me shows that he is standing by the women and the women are the mothers of the nation.
“That is why we have decided to gather to plead with our children, we don’t want to lose any of them.
“Let them stay at home and give the President Bola Tinubu chance. I believe that one year from now all that the government is doing will stand and I know that things are hard, I’m not taking it away from that.”
On what the Federal Government and her Ministry is doing to alleviate the prevailing hunger, she said: “Under one year, the Women Affairs ministry has supplied economic machines to about 16 states including FCT less than 4 months. This year, the President is determined to change things and that is why he sat on the allocation to make sure that it will be properly used.
“We used to travel a lot before President Bola Tinubu came in. He came and we stopped travelling and that saved us N5.5 billion every month.”
Asking who will ever have gut to that, she added that before now, Nigerians were known for gallivanting across the globe with nothing to show for it.
She explained that her Ministry was no exception, adding that all this was done in the guise of CSW, and this is the money that we are supposed to use to help our women across the country.
She said: “Nobody was able to talk to them but with the gut that President Tinubu gave to me it did not happen this year again. No money from my Ministry was used to travel to SCW.
“We got those that used to call us to sponsor us to lavish our money and that is the way it is and we encouraging the President to do what he is doing and in a short while Nigerians will see the results and even the little that they are seeing from me and when I say I no go gree, I no go gree is it not because I have a President with a listening ears.
“I’m begging Nigerians to give the President a little time so that our children will not die and very soon the result of the reforms and various initiatives will begin to will show.
In a remark, Asari Dokubo, while urging the women to caution their children to shelve the protest, said: “You women feel more pain than we men feel because you control the home front they.
“This government is just been there for 365 days even though President Tinubu was given given a 4 year mandate.
“The President is not a magician and as women you feel the pinch of whatever is happening more than any other group like the youths because whatever you are given by their husbands use it to manage and manage so that the men and children can eat.”
While also calling for support for the President, he said: “The president must be supported at this moment to save this country.
“People should set politics aside. Who has ever visited Somalia, Liberia, Sierra-Leone and Libya? For instance Libya used to be paradise, go and see what Libya is today. These countries are not the same again after the removal of their presidents.”
Also speaking, Comrade Lucky Imotimi, the National President, Nigerian Students, while declaring the support for government and against the protest, added: “I want to state here today that I’m happy to be here and that we appreciate the Minister of Women Affairs led by the hardworking, diligent Minister, Barr. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye.
“As for NANS who are children, if the Nigerian women gather here today have said that they want a united Nigeria ad they want to support Mr. President they want to give him more time.
“I think that we must all listen to our mothers, every pains that Nigerians are passing through the women feel it even more we as children we can see that the women struggle to pay their children school fees.
“They struggle to ensure that their children are given good education. If today our women and mothers are telling us that there should be united Nigeria, no destruction, no faceless demonstration and protest, I think that we will listen.
“Greatest Nigerian women and if they say that those who want to protest are faceless, I’m going to convey the message back to all our students in various campuses that this is the message from our women and mothers and we are happy about this and I know that the President has good initiatives through the Ministry.”
