First Lady begs monarchs to support advocacy on health, distributes kits to nurses
Bayelsa State All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Forum has called for the inclusion of its members in political appointments by the Bola Tinubu-led administration, lamenting that they were abandoned after working for the President.
Meanwhile, Wife of the President, Oluremi Tinubu, has described traditional rulers as the eyes and ears of government at the grassroots and appealed to them to align with her vision to promote the health and wellbeing of their subjects by supporting her advocacies against cervical cancer, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Chairperson of the Bayelsa APC women forum, Julie Donli, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, appealed to the party’s leadership to consider its members for political appointments at all levels.
Donli, a former director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said the forum had enough technocrats and professionals who could add much value to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu-led government, if given the opportunity.
She said the demand for inclusion by Bayelsa APC women in Tinubu’s government also reflected a broader call for greater representation of women in governance.
Noting that the women gave everything, including their time, energy and resources, while some even paid the ultimate price towards the success of Tinubu’s campaign, there was nothing to show for it.
“Now, we are two years into the administration’s victory we helped to deliver, yet not a single one of us has been appointed or acknowledged. Our women have not been compensated for all their pains and sacrifices, and we feel neglected.
“As Bayelsa APC women, we advocate that we should be carried along in all the party’s affairs, not just in the state, but at the federal level. We are closer to the party women at the grassroots, the largest voting bloc in the state, and so our demography should not be neglected,” she said.
On her part, Tinubu’s wife described the nation’s diversity and differences as a blessing that must be used positively to build a strong, safe and prosperous Nigeria.
During her visit to traditional rulers in Enugu State on the sidelines of her two-day working visit to the state, she said: “As leaders, we are responsible to take care of all Nigerians, political affiliation notwithstanding.
“Nigeria is a beautiful country, and no one should hinder anyone from visiting any part of the country to experience this. We pray our security will improve and Nigeria should get to that place of safety.”
While presenting professional kits to the midwives in the South-East, the First Lady expressed satisfaction at concluding the distribution of the scrubs and crocs to the six geopolitical zones in Enugu.
She said: “Since the initial launch in January 2025, we have distributed 50,000 scrubs and 50,000 pairs of crocs to five geopolitical zones, namely North Central, North-East, North-West, South-South and the South-West zones. Today we are in Enugu for the South-East and the last geopolitical zone to receive their allocated share of scrubs and crocs.”
Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, described the First Lady as the Florence Nightingale of this time owing to her responsiveness to the various pressing health issues.
