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*Says Political Leadership Not A Function of Gender
House of Representatives aspirant in Yagba Federal Constituency, Adebisi Yewande Awoniyi, first daughter of late Arewa Consultative Forum Chairman (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi, has identified her displeasure with the welfare and quality of life of the people as reasons for joining the race for the 2019 elections.
‘Awoniyi’, who was Chief Operations Officer, Bicourtney Aviation Services, operators of MMA2, the first female to hold the position in Nigeria’s aviation sector, made the disclosure in Egbe, Yagba West Local Government of Kogi State, when she paid a visit to the Elegbe of Egbe, Oba Ayodele Irukera.
Fielding questions from reporters on the alleged bias against women when filling top political office, in Okunland, Awoniyi opined that leadership is not a function of the gender but individual capability and ability.
“I would have actually loved to go for the senate but I decided that with the political settings of my area, let me start from the House of Representatives,” began Awoniyi, adding “I have always had the passion to return back to my roots the opportunity, the exposure, the experience that I garnered from working in a company like Bicourtney Aviation Services. I have been able to bring back to life companies that were considered to be dying. I believe I have a kind of a mida’s touch on anything I put on my mind to do.
“I am not particularly too pleased with the welfare, with the quality of life I see here in my community, and I think that, well, my father had done it, and now that he has passed on, we the children should continue where he left off. Agreed, one is stepping in his big shoes but with the support of my people, my constituents, my brother who is also in politics, it is doable. Coming into politics to take charge of the welfare and quality of life of our people, is something I have always had a passion for and that is why I am coming out for the House of Representatives because I believe I will represent my people very well.”
Asked if she thinks her family background would server as an advantage going into the election, she replied, “I will be very, very ungrateful to the memory of my dad if I say the name ‘Awoniyi’ isn’t a plus for me. Everything my dad has done is like a launchpad for me. So yes, the name Awoniyi is a big advantage. Couple with the fact that my personal and individual capability and ability, are often said to be very much like my dad; in the way I talk, in the way I do things, my passion for things and all that. Yes, my family name is going to help me a great deal but that is if people are able to see that what they saw in my late dad, they are seeing it in me and what I am as an individual, my antecedents and they know that it is something I can do.”
She opined that the advocacy that men should allow the womenfolk have a share in the top leadership positions was unnecessary, saying success is not a function of gender.
“I have always said that hardwork has no gender, success has no gender. I tend to look at everybody as an individual. I don’t look at gender. I look at the brain. Everybody is born with an ability to succeed, it depends on how each and everyone of us apply that ability. I don’t think gender comes into it at all. May be, I might say I am fortunate considering the fact that there was supposed to be 35 percent woman participation in government, may be that looks nice, but even without that, I was the first female Chief Operation Officer to ever run any airport in Nigeria.
“The aviation industry is strictly a male dominated sector and I headed that institution very well. It was the first private airport in Nigeria under the most successful Public Private Partnership (PPP). The records are there for all to see and I can hit my chest and say I performed better than all the men that had ever held the position of COO, aviation sector in Nigeria. I can also say that I am the first female chairman of Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos. It is the largest estate Lagos State Government ever built. I successfully won the election and I successfully ran that estate. Politics for me comes in the blood. So, being a woman, in all honesty, is even an added advantage. Women are very passionate when we put our mind into something.
Asked if she was new to politics, she retorted, “I have been in politics for as long as my dad has been in politics. It’s like he knew all of us will eventually come out to get involved in politics; everything he did he always carried us along. I can also say the way some people go about politicking, calls for a rethink. Politics should be about selfless service; if you are a selfless individual, you are in politics, if you want to help the community without gaining anything personally or gratification, you are in politics. My father always says there is no limit to what a man can achieve as long as he does not care only for himself. That is the same believe I have. So for how long I have been in politics? I have been in politics since my dad had been in politics.
‘Adebisi’, as she’s simply called while denouncing politics of godfatherism, declared she never needed a political godfather.
“I have a godfather. That’s God. Do I have political godfathers? In all honesty, I don’t understand what political godfathers means. The way I understand you is that somebody that put the money there, he plants you and when you get into government you start doing his bidding and he starts to control you as a puppet. If that is what political godfather means, honestly, I definitely don’t and I don’t intend to do. And that is because I want everybody to see me as an individual. We need to shift away from the politics of godfatherism, and to look at the individual; what does that individual have in him or her for the people he or she is representing? That is the most important thing. You will be surprised, if you have a very good brand, the so-called godfathers wI’ll fall into line. It is because the political terrain in Nigeria has always been dominated by lazy people -people that have no vision, so they need people to service them, but I believe that my antecedent is enough for people to know that I don’t need a godfather, because I want to serve, it is a selfless thing for me.”
On the platform she is contesting, she noted that “I am still consulting, widely. I have not decided on the platform yet. In a couple of weeks, after the consultations, I should be able to disclose the name of the party”.
Dr Bola Adetunmbi, wife of Senator Olu Adetunmbi from Ekiti State, who was on the entourage, described Awoniyi as a friend, sister and a woman of strength, character and compassion.
Her words: “My husband is a politician but I don’t really get involved in politics personally. But I have come because I believe in her; I believe in her integrity, I believe in her capacity. She is a woman of strength, and character and compassion. Her passion is to bring dead things back to life. Of course Kogi State is not dead, it has reached the threshold of her weakness. We need a woman like Adebisi to bring this state back from the brink”.
Oba Irukera who expressed pleasure to have Adebisi as the third Awoniyi to visit him, after his father, the late Chief Awoniyi and brother, Yomi, immediate past deputy governor, admonished his guest to be led by the adage “as you make your bed so you will ly in it”, as she pursued her political ambition. He added quickly that because of the good deeds of her father, “the bed has been prepared for you, definitely your lying in it will be of peaceful dreams. What you need to do is to work hard towards achieving your dream”.
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