Kwankwaso, who was one of the five
northern governors that had met with political leaders on the crisis in
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, played a hide-and-seek with
Jonathan, Sambo and the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,
at the event.
He refused to join other governors, who
were on the same table with him when they all moved to the President’s
table to exchange pleasantries with him; his wife, Patience; Sambo and
his wife, Amina.
Tukur and the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Godswill Akpabio, were on the table beside that of the President.
The governors, who went to pay homage
included Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo); Peter Obi (Anambra); Adams Oshiomhole
(Edo); Theodore Orji (Abia); Jonah Jang (Plateau); and Idris Wada
(Kogi).
Others were the acting governor of Taraba, Garba Umar, and the deputy governor of Bayelsa, John Jonah.
Only Kwankwaso and his deputy, Abdullahi Ganduje, remained on their seats.
The governor also refused to recognise the presence of the President during the presentation of awards to the governors.
All the governors who received awards,
on stepping down from the podium, moved to the President for a handshake
before returning to their seats.
But immediately Kwankwaso collected his award, he looked the other way, stepped down from the podium and returned to his seat.
Meanwhile, President Jonathan has
expressed the fear that he might not be able to achieve the goals of his
much-talked about transformation agenda without the full participation
of women.
Jonathan raised the concern in a speech at the award/gala night.
At the event, the President was honoured with a “Lifetime Icon Award” for appointing many women into his government.
While Vice-President Namadi Sambo was
honoured for supporting Jonathan’s administration to empower women
during the award night, the governors of Ondo, Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo,
Abia, Kano and Akwa Ibom received awards for the significance presence
of women in their governments.
“I strongly believe that we cannot
accomplish the goals of our transformation agenda if women comprising
about 50 per cent of our population are not fully integrated into our
development efforts and programmes,” the President said.
He argued that the Nigerian woman is not
only an important part of the nation’s history, but also a part of the
country’s future development as a nation.
He recalled that Nigerian women had
championed significant national social transformation programmes that
have had an enduring impact on the well-being of the country.
Jonathan said women had been playing
important and visible roles in the current dispensation in ensuring a
thriving democracy and adding value to the lives of the people.
He promised that his administration
would continue to take every measure necessary to bring on board the
huge resources and acumen that women have to offer.
Wife of the President, Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, renewed her call on the National Assembly to give legislative
backing to the 35 per cent affirmative action on women representation in
appointive and elective positions.
She said it was only by doing so that the gains of women in the present administration could be sustained.
She observed that the present situation
where women only represent 6.4 per cent of the Senate and 6.7 per cent
of the House of Representatives left much to be desired.
Quoting from data made available by the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, she said Rwanda boasts of the highest number
of women parliamentarians in the world with 56.3 per cent in the lower
house and 38.5 per cent in the Senate.
She said women parliamentarians in
Senegal represented 42.7 per cent; Tanzania, 45 per cent; Burundi, 56
per cent and Mozambique 39.2 per cent.
She added, “We want our men to
appreciate that the women we are appealing for are their mothers, aunts,
wives, daughters and sisters.
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As far as I'm concerned,this issue of involving women in everything must have cut out boundaries & must be admi nisterd with some sort of prudence. There are some Natural parameters that must not be ignored. A man is a man & a woman is always a woman. They could be very good in certain aspects of life responsibilities but not in all. Everything this 'Oyibo' people bring for us,we will swallow. God created humans in two different sexes. Gave each different characteristics,physically,emotionally,biologically,etc. It is not acceptable for we mere mortals to attempt to make changes to this status. We owe respect,consideration,affection & whatever to women but our responsive capacities to different situations remain different. We must not forget the essence of our existence. Even in colonies of ordinary animals where they chose to live the way God created them,they all have their various responsibities. Why don't we critically observe relationships where equal rights are accorded to women & see how it goes generally. They are not always the best managers of certain responsibilities. ....Chris
ReplyDeleteOne other thing we must note is that it's not everything that works for the west that will work for Africa. That's one of Africa's greatest problems.....Chris
ReplyDelete