Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, has spoken in favor of electing a female leader to lead the country.
At the fifth annual Egba Dialect Debate and Choral Competition for Secondary Schools in Ogun Central Senatorial District, held in Abeokuta, Obasanjo discussed his opinions on Nigeria having a female president.
A debate with the topic “Nigeria is ripe for a female president” was part of the event, which was organized by Dr. Lanre Tejuoso, the provost of the University of Lagos.
Speaking at the ceremony, the former president asserted that the nation will recover its strength and progress when authority is distributed equally among the sexes.
He said;
“From my own view, if we want the country to grow, we should consider both genders, because a hand can’t carry a load to the head alone.
“You can do it as you want, but it should be done as it is supposed to be. We can gain experience from both genders. What’s the difference between the genders? Only the female can get pregnant for nine months and a male can’t. That’s the only difference between us.
“As for me, there’s nothing preventing the female gender from becoming the President of our country.”
Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Naimot Salako-Oyedele who backed Obasanjo on his stance of a female President, said;
“We can’t give someone power, it has to be fought for, and we have to start bringing female into politics, even if it’s from the grassroot level, so that they can gain enough experience to lead the country.
“If she can start from being a councillor and we see that she’s capable, then, she can move to the next level.
“In Ogun state, we have 236 councillors but only 18 are females, we have 20 Chairmen, only two are females among them, we have 26 seats in the house of Assembly, only two are females, house of representatives, we have nine, one is female, we have three senators, no female and we have the deputy governor who is also a female.”