Former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Senator Biodun Olujimi, tells Assistant Editor (South West), MUYIWA OLALEYE, her experience in politics, and ordeal of female politicians in Nigeria.
Experiences in politics
Politics is part of me and I am part of politics. If we look at the word politics, it starts from home. Most of the men are protective of their women. A time came when there was the need to balance gender, some of us had the opportunity. It has not been bad experience for me.
Marginalisation in allocation of party resources and posts
Naturally, men won’t give women a chance. They believe we are interlopers and that we suffocate the system. As a result, women must fight for everything. We need to prove to them that we are capable. In the course of convincing them, we need to work extra hard. It is not about competing with the men; no. You must go the extra mile and work harder. Let men see it and acknowledge it. That is the only way you can get anything as a female politician.
Women in politics
I believe that all the women that have gone in have done very well. What happened was that some of them went in without really knowing the agenda. They are usually conspired against and women are not usually good at conspiracy. They are not very good at intrigues. So, they get caught in the web. Look at the case of Patricia Etteh (former Speaker, House of Representatives). They needed to remove her, and everything was cooked up against her. Immediately she left, they were happy. That has been the case for most women. For a woman to get into office, she must have worked harder, 10 times more than anybody else before her name would be mentioned. I salute their courage. It is not easy for a woman to be in office at whatever level. I salute all the women that have had the opportunity and used it well.
Allegations against Patricia Etteh, Stella Oduah and others?
They did not do anything. What did Oduah do? Unfortunately, the allegations against her were never proven. I cannot blame someone for an allegation that has not been proven. Definitely, it is wrong to spend money that has not been appropriated. But till today, we don’t have a clear report. This is part of the problem with Nigeria. The person you have publicly accused of committing an offence will not have his offence brought to limelight. There will be reports from 10 different organisations and they will be singing discordant tunes. Some will be doing this for political reasons, while some will be genuine. The others just want to use it to score cheap political points. That is where the confusion sets in. The press must help us by bringing clear and genuine reports of misdeeds to make people know their evils and without doubts.
Impeachment while deputising Ayodele Fayose during his first stint as Ekiti governor
Naturally, one would be taken aback. They wanted to impeach the governor and the deputy and they needed to do it at all costs. They had to look for every opportunity and that was what happened.
Sponsor of the impeachment
As far as I am concerned, it was the House of Assembly that tried to do it. If they were asked to do it by somebody else, I don’t know. I am only telling you what I know.
Purported betrayal of Fayose by joining Segun Oni’s cabinet
How can that be? Segun Oni was in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and he was not part of the impeachment; he did not become the governor immediately. By then, Fayose had travelled. The allegation doesn’t tally. It could not have been a betrayal because it was the same party. Maybe it was not noticed; I didn’t come in initially, I came in much later.
Alleged jumbo pay for NASS members
I think what we should just do is to juxtapose what they do with what they earn. Most times, people talk about issues they don’t know about. I am not sure that the people who are talking about the jumbo salary have really gone deep into it to see if it is true or not, as well as what it is supposed to cover. In a situation whereby there might be votes for certain things, what we should do is to ensure that we benchmark them and ensure that whatever they have to do with some funds are done. What is happening is that we leave everybody to himself; we don’t ask questions. The day we begin to ask questions, it will be a different ball game.
Call for unicameral and part-time legislature
I don’t think it will help because the volume of work a legislator needs to do is heavy. It is almost an everyday thing. You need to read about issues, travel, monitor constituencies and carry out oversight functions. If the functions are reduced, maybe it will help. But with what is on the ground now, it is going to be difficult. So many things will be shut down. If we are going to have a unicameral legislature, we need to sit down and look at the content of what is being done now and see how to juggle it, reduce it or share the responsibilities. Then, we can have a point. But with the way it is now, I don’t think it is easy.
Assessing the Nigerian media
There was something we used to call balancing. This does not exist any longer. Some of today’s journalists do not check their facts anymore. They rather get carried away by sentiments, which was not the case in the past. Journalists don’t file investigative stories any longer. People now listen to hearsay and publish it as the truth. Also, because there are private owners of media organisations, the owners determine which way the organisations run. It is not what it should be. The press should be the final arbiter for anybody. It should not be biased.
