Former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Iyom Josephine Anenih is an interviewer’s delight any day. Not only does she speak the truth as she sees it, she is also convincing when explaining her position on issues. In this interview with KEMI YESUFU, she speaks on the recently concluded National Delegates Conference during which she advocated death penalty for corrupt government officials. Anenih equally spoke on how money politics and women’s lukewarm attitude to female aspirants robbed her of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for last year’s governorship election in Anambra State. She talked about the incident that led to her long years of gender activism, even as she disclosed why she has adopted an all-white dress code.
As a delegate, are you satisfied with the outcome of the recently concluded national conference? Did the conference meet your expectations?
For me, the conference was an eye opener. I didn’t really have spelt out expectations. But I definitely knew that delegates will come with their positions and they would also expect to canvass these positions vigorously. As a person, I prayed and advocated that despite the differing positions, people would also be open minded enough not to take positions that will make it difficult for us to dialogue. I also hoped that people would be open enough for us to look at ourselves honestly and discuss our fears about each other. There is no doubt that in Nigeria people have profiled others. Some of the profiles are based on personal experiences, some were based on real and unreal assumptions and some have right and wrong perceptions. But these perceptions, most of which cannot survive close scrutiny have been affecting the way we live as a people. For me, the national conference came at the right time when we are celebrating Nigeria’s centenary in order for us to deal with the fundamental issues. Also, for a president with months to election to convey a national conference, many thought he made a mistake. But I think he is courageous and he showed that he is a statesman. People were speculating that the conference would lead to the disintegration of the country. Some were so afraid they advised that we continue patching up until after the president returns to power. But the president showed that he really wants to transform the country by going ahead with the conference. We cannot deny the fact that the way we have been running the country by sweeping things under the carpet has got us nowhere. We just couldn’t continue with the way things are. Due to the fears that surrounded the confab, we knew that we had to tread with caution. But as we went along, even in the first month, everybody realised that there is no reason for all the suspicion. We realised that by arguing over many things, we would not solve the problems of the country. It was clear that we never wanted to see a day that the geographical space called Nigeria will stop existing. We all wanted one Nigeria, no part of the country wanted to leave Nigeria. Mind you, the president also said the only thing we couldn’t discuss is the dissolution of Nigeria. We looked at all the sectors and governance in general. At the end of the day, we had consensus on all the recommendations that were made.
Talking about recommendations, Nigerians would really like to see that they are implemented. How can government make these recommendations a reality?
There are some recommendations that have to do with policies. There are some that require constitutional amendment. All of these recommendations have been sorted accordingly and they have been presented to the president. The president has brought to reality his promise to set up a committee to work on our recommendations. I expect the committee to come out with a White Paper, this will now be the document on which the issues agreed on during the confab will be made a reality. I have confidence that when the White Paper is issued, the president won’t allow it gather dust in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Nigerians shouldn’t be worried about what becomes of the issues agreed on at the confab. We did a fantastic job and what Nigerians need to do is to keep the discussions on recommendations alive in order for government to implement them.
As a former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, are you happy with the resolutions related to gender parity and the welfare of special groups such as persons living with disabilities as well as orphaned and vulnerable children?
To start with, I commend the president for his gender sensitive stand. This is the first time that we recorded this number of female delegates at a national conference or anything of this sort. We had 92 women out of 400 delegates. In the categories of those nominated by the president, there was a category for market women, there was a category for the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), FIDA was also represented and the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) was represented. States were told to nominate at least one woman as part of the delegates they could send. There were female delegates from the civil society. We have never had it so good. In fact, it was only political parties that didn’t send women. And when the women arrived at the conference, they showed that they were born activists. For every committee at the conference, the role of the female delegates was to make sure that recommendations coming from these committees were gender sensitive. In other words, gender was a factor in all the committees and not only in the social sector committee which I headed and where we had a section on gender. Be it in transport, agriculture or immigration, women made sure that gender was mainstreamed in their recommendations. At the end of the day, we had committees calling for 35 or 30 per cent representation in these sectors. For all of these, I will say that the female delegates did a good job.
During the confab, we lost an extra-ordinary woman in the person of Professor Dora Akunyili. You actively participated in her burial. What does her loss mean to you and Nigerian women as a whole?
Her death was a huge loss to us all. She was vibrant. She was energetic till the end. Even when she appeared at the confab sick, she was still energetic. She was hardworking and was ready to work for her country even when she was battling an illness. As she said, she was ready to serve Nigeria with the last drop of her blood. We will miss her a great deal. My prayer is that Nigerian women will emulate her as she had impacted on us through her exemplary life. We pray that we have more women like Dora Akunyili, as she was a woman of integrity and valour.
Earlier you said the women at the confab were born activists. You have been involved in gender activism for a long time. How do you feel being called a born activist?
Yes, I am a born activist. I have been advocating for women’s rights before I became a well known politician. Even as a child I knew that I had rights as a woman. I didn’t allow anyone make me feel any inferior.
Was there anything that triggered your interest in activism?
My mother had four daughters in succession. You can imagine how she felt delivering girl after girl. There were snide remarks from neighbours and family members. The names of my siblings also showed how my parents felt. We had a name like Obumneke, meaning ‘am I the creator?’ When the boy came, he was named Tagbo, meaning ‘today is not too late’. But my father was unique for his time in the sense that he didn’t allow the situation make him love his daughters any less. He gave us names like Ifeayinwa, meaning that ‘there is nothing better than a child’. He kept telling me there is nothing I cannot achieve if I put my mind to it. He told me to be the best I can be in order to show the men that women are capable of doing great things. Unfortunately, I lost my father in my early teens and I saw the wickedness that was meted out to my mother as a widow in Ibo land. And I vowed that no man would do same to me. Even as a young girl, I decided that I would fight against harmful practices as well as wicked customs and practices women are put through. I also have to say that activism runs in my blood
as my mother even as a widow had decided on the rites she would perform and those she wouldn’t accede to because they were harmful. She was a fighter too. I remember in those days, she became the rallying point for widows in my community. So, I am naturally a born activist for women rights and the causes that promote a better life for women.
Would you say that the women who occupied important public offices have proved their mettle? Also, a lot of people have expressed worry that women who were once taught to be less disposed to corruption are being accused of behaving like the men. Are you worried that women like the former speaker Honourable Patricia Eteh and immediate past Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah had to leave office in controversial circumstances?
I always tell women who want to come into public life, that they first have to develop a skin thicker than that of a crocodile. In fact, if they can add another layer of elephant skin to that of the crocodile, it will be good they do so. They equally need to guard their underbelly so that when those who come to attack them arrive, they won’t be able to do anything. The truth is, many still see the female leader as ‘ordinary woman’ who shouldn’t be seen or heard and because of this they will use everything in their armory to fight the woman.
Who are the ‘they’ you say fight to bring down women in public office?
Of course, I mean people in our society. The fact is, our society is still not ready to see an ‘ordinary woman’ in charge. They will love to see her pulled down. Once a woman has the top job, each day, they will work on pulling her down; looking for what she did and what she did not do. Because of this, a woman has to go into public office prepared. If not, they will destroy your spirit. You talked about the former speaker, this woman within the short while she was elected speaker had to contend with false allegations. But after everything, the same House of Representatives apologised to her (Eteh), saying that she was wrongly accused. Neutral observers knew she was innocent all along. But they had already stained the woman’s name for nothing. Even with Stella Oduah, where have you read or heard that any transaction was done in her name? Was there anything bought in her name? No minister can serve for a hundred years, so even when there are cars bought for the use of a minister, he/ she knows the car remains the property of the ministry. But it is better to call for the crucifixion of Stella Oduah because she is a woman. However, the fact remains that she reformed the aviation sector in an unprecedented manner. And as I always like to say, at the end of the day, men and women are human beings and happenings have shown that men have higher propensity to deep their hands in the public till. So, isn’t it a better deal to have women in public office? Unlike the men who have shown that when they deep their hands into the public purse, they take what’s on top, the middle and the bottom of the purse.
When do you think Nigeria will produce an elected female governor or even president?
Today, we celebrate Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf of Liberia. Do you know who put her there? It is the women. She even got support from Nigerian women, because I still remember that I was in the delegation of the former First Lady, the late Mariam Babangida when she went to Monrovia for Sirleaf’s swearing-in ceremony. As I said earlier, it is they-the people in the society, women inclusive, who can get a woman elected as governor or president here in Nigeria. Whether we have women who can rule this country, I will say yes. You talked about Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the late Dora Akunyili and even I, Josephine Anenih. But it all depends on what the society wants. When the society is ready to have a female governor or president, it will throw up a woman. Having said this, the critical work resides with the political parties. If the political parties are truly democratic and they will allow popular candidates emerge, then we may see more female governorship candidates and maybe a female presidential candidate. Another problem is the electorate, they seem to have lost hope of Nigeria ever making that quantum leap. They seem to have given up rather than seeing that every election is an opportunity for them to better their future. You will be surprised at the number of party people who will vote for the highest bidder. All they care about is getting in touch with the candidate that can pay. They are not interested in who has a better manifesto. They believe that no matter how good the promises of the aspirant sound, they will forget what they said once they are in office. Delegates just want to get all they can during the primaries and not worry themselves about what happens after elections. Lastly, I have to talk about what happens in our villages where women hardly have a say and they are mostly instructed on what to do, even when it comes to voting for a candidate.
Could it be that what you just described was what took place when you sought your party’s ticket?
I can share my personal experience. When I contested for the PDP gubernatorial ticket, each ward produced three delegates and one of the three delegates were women. My calculation was that with 326 female delegates out of about 800 delegates, I could record a landslide win. I imagined that if the women would cast their votes based on who can govern the state effectively, I will be their candidate. They also should have supported me because I am a woman. But they didn’t assess the aspirants based on the issues I mentioned. The women and other delegates based their considerations on ego (money). All they were asking was ‘how much did they bring?’
But as a former minister, you should have enough money to run for your party’s primary?
Honestly, I feel physical pain when I hear an educated person like you talk like you just did. My stomach turns when I hear enlightened people talk in the manner you just did. Is there any hope for Nigeria when an educated person sounds the way you did? So, if you haven’t stolen money, you cannot function? I was minister for nine months. How much is my salary in nine months that you expect me to have millions to give people? Besides, I was minister four years ago. Sometimes, I feel like running away from this country because from the bottom to the top, all people want to hear is that you have money to give them. If we want ministers to commandeer the budget of their ministries and start dishing it out as their personal money, how can we run this country? How do we even deal with problems we have like insurgency? It’s really sad because these days people are angry about almost everything. They want to take out their frustrations with the system on the next person. They were annoyed that I was a minister and I didn’t have N150, 000 to give them like those they eventually voted for. This country is a cesspool of corruption and this is why we have people living below the poverty line in a blessed country like ours. But I still have hope that Nigeria will change. I am even more confident that things will change from what we were able to achieve at the confab. The change might be slow, but we will surely see a new Nigeria and I want to be one of those that will witness the new Nigeria. I don’t want it to happen behind me.
What kind of changes do you think we need?
As I just said, I am even more emboldened in my belief of a new Nigeria since the success of the conference. I, like many Nigerians believe that if we implement the 600 recommendations reached at the confab, our country will change for the better. I have always been a supporter of the president, but my admiration for his leadership style has increased greatly with what the confab was able to achieve. I am rooting for a second term for Jonathan even more because of the far-reaching recommendations the confab has submitted to him. He made the confab happen despite all the advisers that asked him not to take such a risk with elections around the corner. Do you know that one of the recommendations of the confab is that anybody caught with his/her hands in the public purse should be jailed for life? I wanted us to borrow from China where corrupt officials are executed. But the majority said corrupt people should be imprisoned for life and all of their assets confiscated. We will have a new country if we can implement these recommendations.
How do you spend your time outside gender activism and public service?
I don’t have any other thing I do other than talking about women and going to church. I go to church to pray for a better Nigeria. What else do you want me do? Do you want me to go to the disco? I have outgrown that many years ago.
You seem to revere the Ibo culture so much as you like being addressed by your Iyom title?
Yes, I like to promote my culture and tradition. A person’s culture is her roots. Can a tree grow without roots? One of the reasons why we are having problems in Nigeria is that people have lost touch with culture and tradition. There is hardly any community or people without ethos or norms. But when you have people who don’t have ethos they live by, you see the kind of decadence being witnessed in Nigeria.
Is your love for tradition the reason zyou wear white most of the time?
To an extent, you are correct in the sense that white signifies purity and peace in my culture.
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Nigeria is a cesspool of corruption – Josephine Anenih |
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