APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammad Buhari yesterday in Lagos declared that his administration
will have zero tolerance for violence against women
just as he formally took responsibility for actions
taken under his stewardship as head of state.
Buhari spoke at two separate interactive sessions
with women in Lagos yesterday. He spoke as
Governor Rotimi Amaechi commended Buhari’s wife
as the true epitome of womanhood saying she has
been well groomed as a lady preparatory to
stepping in as First Lady. Governor Amaechi at the
ceremony dismissed attacks on him by the First
Lady, Patience Jonathan.
Also at the sessions, Governor Babatunde Fashola
of Lagos state criticised the Peoples Democratic
Party and the PDP-led federal government for
failing to bring back the abducted Chibok girls.
Giving his opinion on gender issues, Buhari said:
“Our administration will ensure promotion of anti-
discrimination legislations and policies to afford
women equality and equity, especially in the areas
of employment, education, housing and
entrepreneurship. We shall commit ourselves to
merit based Affirmative Actions to level the playing
field for women and provide them with opportunities
to be part of decision-making and governance at all
levels while we will include gender as a component
of the federal character.
“There will be strong political will to promote
Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality
through dedicating the required financial, human and
technical resources toward this goal and we will
make a concerted effort to empower women in
rural areas who constitute majority of the Nigerian
women. We will enforce legal protection for the
rights of the girl-child in all areas of religious, social
and economic life, protecting her right to dignity,
shelter and choice.”
He went further, “Nigerian women have always
played a visible and competent role in nation
building. In addition to their various activities which
sustained communities in precolonial times, they
also played key roles in the struggles for
independence and the political processes that
followed.”
Condemning the country’s high rate of maternal and
child mortality which he said is among the highest
in the world, he said he was determined to rescue
Nigeria’s fading glory: “I am on a mission to restore
Nigeria’s fading glory and re-position our great
nation on the path to greatness. I am however
aware that this will not be possible without
addressing the needs and concerns of those who
constitute half of the population of this country
which are women. As the father of a number of
promising young women, I should know what it
means to want the very best for my own
daughters.”
Taking responsibility for actions done in his name
as military head of state, particularly the execution
of drug peddlers and the promulgation of Decree
Number 4 limiting press freedom, he said: “As
military head of state, there are two things I did and
I have since accepted them as a leader. It is true
that the bulk of everything lands on the table of Mr
President, so the things that happened, I accept my
responsibility but I cannot undo the past but as a
President of the future, I have taken note.
“The two issues anyone can accuse me of is the
shooting of drug pushers and decree number four
which affects the Journalists. If you do your
research well, you will realize the reason why the
Supreme Military Council of that time took those
decisions”.
Buhari also drew questions from a cross section of
the audience including leading stars of Nollywood,
artisans and women from different professions.
Speaking at the event, the Rivers state governor
and director general of the APC Campaign, Governor
Rotimi Amaechi described claims that Buhari is a
religious bigot as unfounded.
He said, “We have brought him here so that you ask
him questions as you want, so that you can see that
the other party has been feeding the country with
lies. We have brought him here so that you can see
that this man that is being demonized is after-all a
human being and is not what they say he is and he
is a man of his words.
“He is not a Christian but a Muslim, but Christians
work with him. He told me two things when we
started this campaign, he said to me I will give you
16 hours of my time but allow me my own 6 hours.
He also told me that throughout his life, he allows
Sundays for Christian who works with him, so he
asked me to remove Sundays from our programs so
that his workers that are Christians can attend their
churches.
“If you are conversant with our campaigns, you will
realize we don’t do campaigns on Sunday. And what
I find difficult was that during the Christmas season,
we should have started our campaigns, he said no,
this is the season the Christians celebrate the birth
of Jesus Christ, we will not campaign until after that
time. Can this man be a religious bigot? Who is
lying”? he queried.
He further said , “ They claimed General Buhari said
that women should be in the kitchen but I can say
with all sense of seriousness that have never seen
his wife spend the whole day in the kitchen, I have
also seen Hajia Buhari campaign, she is an epitome
of a true woman, very gentle. You heard Professor
Wole Soyinka saying you need to become a lady
before assuming the position of a First lady. She has
never abused the President and she has never
talked against any man who has even abused her
husband but our other woman says am her son and
she has been abusing me. So if that my mother is a
lady, she should please behave like a lady”.
In his remarks, the governor of Lagos state,
Babatunde Raji Fashola, urged Lagosians to vote out
the PDP because the president has not fulfilled any
of the promises he made to them in 2011.
He condemned the government for turning its back
on the Chibok girls.
People present at the event included the national
leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu; the
governorship candidate of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Lagos, Akin Ambode; Senator
Oluremi Tinubu, the deputy governor of Osun state;
Laoye Tomori, the deputy governor of Lagos state;
Orelope Adefulire, a former governor of Ekiti state,
Segun Oni, the wife of a former governor of Ekiti
state; Erelu Bisi Fayemi, the Lagos state First Lady;
Dame Fashola, a former minister of state for
defence; Demola Seriki; Patrick Obahiagbon; and
Hon Abike Dabiri, among many others.
Meanwhile, with less that two weeks to the
presidential elections, the suit seeking to stop
Buhari from contesting the election has gained more
momentum.
Oyatotalkonline
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