Determined to reposition and effect changes on women development, laced in women reforms , the new Minister of Women Affairs, Barrister Uju Kennedy Ohanenye has kicked the ground running in her new area as a public officer, of an area he had invested heavily as a private individual over the years.
Her appointment, coinciding with the this year’s 2023 United Nations General Assembly UNGA annual global convention known as 78th UNGA, had thrown alot of credence to her strides to ensuring not only women development, but emancipation.
Combining her profession with passion and her new public status, no doubt she had swung into action by tackling various problems bedeviling women development and advocating same policies and programs, towards women participation in all facets.
Uju not resting on her oars in her series of meetings with critical stakeholders charged with women development, had undergone series of policies and programs framework towards ameliorating the glaring scourge against women and by extension her humanitarian tendencies.
Having domesticated programs and policies towards women participation and development universally, coinciding with the period of global agitations towards more attention to women hood.
Ohanenye not only an advocate, but practiced and had clamoured for freedom in all ramifications, particularly at both private and public sphere in line with the global clamour, tendencies and beliefs.
The Minister who had reiterated the need to adhere strictly to the tenets of 35% affirmation, public office appointment to women, also see women as the ingredients of good governance that are vulnerable and should be protected.
Not long in the office, he had embarked on series of empowerment, awareness across the country so as to give a sense of belongings to the women across all strata.
At the global level and inline with the SDGs Goals 5 , had only demonstrated, but clamouring for non discrimination against women, and abhor all forms of violence directed or prone to womanhood.
The elimination of all harmful practices against women, recognise their values, unpaid care, and domestic works that was largely reserved for women in this clime.
In line with the UN SDGs, Ohanenye will need to do more on equal participation and opportunities for women in the country, even though, she was doing enough in the area of empowerment as she recently empowered 520 women.
She had the opportunity of attending this year’s UNGA to highlight more on concerted reforms in equal rights, particularly in the women folk as well as universal access to sexual and reproductive health for the women citizenry.
Already, she had rolled out machinery to debut sound government policies that both the private and public spirited individuals could leverage on, adopt it as well as strengthen and enforce it in line with the best practices.
Women in their capacity had the wherewithal to undergo and display skills in technical and technological driven template, efforts should be encouraged by the Uju Kennedy Ohanenye led Women Affairs Ministry to mobilise more global supports in that order.
No doubt, the 78th UNGA will be an ample opportunity for her to regularise myriads of inactions against women, away from the insinuation by certain sections of Nigeria society, not in tandem with her mission and vision, but for obvious and no reasons .
For Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, the new Minister of Women Affairs, she is grounded in her new area of managing not only women, but humanity in it’s entirety.
Yusuf, Is A Public Affairs Analyst, Writes from Abuja on yus.abubakar3@gmail.com.
