Odu: Woman Should Emerge Ondo Governor in 2024

Fidelis David in Akure 

Secretary to Ondo State Government (SSG), Mrs Oladunni Odu, has called for the emergence of a female Governor in the 2024 governorship election in the state.

Odu, who was the Commissioner for Education, Ondo State between 1995 and 1999 and Commissioner for Women Affairs (January 1999 to May 1999), said women’s leadership qualities would bring about desired change and rapid development because of the family-centric blood that flows in them.

The SSG spoke yesterday in Akure, the state capital, at an interactive session with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state.

Stressing her loyalty to the governor, she said she remained the best person to build on the “Redeemed Agenda” legacies of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, having been in and out of governance in the last 27 years.

The first female SSG in the state, who noted that no woman had been elected to the position since the return to democracy in 1999, insisted she was the best for the governorship position after Akeredolu.

“Let us test a woman. The trailblazing character of Ondo State will start from all of us to convince people, why they should look towards that direction. And you are not just talking about anyhow woman but someone you have tried and tested. Somebody who has been around here, somebody who knows her onion, somebody who knows the system. 

“Because I am bold to say that of all the people who have come out to be aspirants, none of them is as exposed to governance as myself. I have been around this place, in and out of governance in the last 27 years. So, I know what governance is. The men have done very well, I am not disputing that but all I am saying is that we should try women,” she stressed.

The APC chieftain decried the situation, stressing that several women across generations were doing well and succeeding in chosen careers.