Women professionals from Kogi Central Senatorial District, on Sunday, trooped out in thousands to express their gratitude to voters for turning out en masse to vote, overwhelmingly, for the All Progressives Congress’ candidates in the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The women, who thanked Kogi people and Governor Yahaya Bello of the State for the peaceful conduct of the election, said the ‘Thank You’ road walk became necessary in order to demonstrate that women in Central and in the state, generally, were solidly in support of the Governor for giving them the share of voice they had been clamouring for, for years, and to urge him to do more.
Led by notable women professionals in the district, the Kogi Central women took off from Okene Local Government Secretariat, walked through the newly built Reference Hospital, down to Total, and back to the Secretariat, chanting thank you and victory songs as they marched through the streets.
They prayed loudly against what they termed evil spirits that might have been invoked by desperate politicians in the State, believing that “darkness would never overcome light.”
Kogi State Coordinator, APC Professional Women Council, Hajia Rekiyat Onaivo, charged Kogi women to replicate their last outing by coming out en masse to vote for APC candidates in the State House of Assembly election, next Saturday, March 11.
She said the large turnout during the last presidential and National Assembly election was an indication that women in Kogi central appreciated Governor Yahaya Bello’s result-oriented women inclusive governance.
Onaivo Sanni, who is also the Executive Director Kogi Enterprise Development Agency (KEDA), enjoined women to support the current administration to enable it deliver more dividends of democracy to the people of the state, assuring that the Senator-elect, Abubakar Sadiku Ohere, would give good representation at the National Assembly.
The Chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Anne Olurinde, who also joined the walk, commended the state government for making the state’s resources work for the people, noting that the infrastructure projects undertaken by Governor Bello’s administration were unprecedented in the history of the state.
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She said Kogites had enjoyed peace since the Governor assumed office and that, though journalists must be neutral, they also owed the state and the entire nation the duty of responsible journalism devoid of unfounded panic reporting.
“We monitored the elections and considering what Kogi State elections have been like for decades, we can conveniently say it was very peaceful. The elections were free and fair,” Olurinde said, while urging aggrieved parties to seek redress in court to maintain peace.
“We refuse to be willing tools in the hands of politicians who are always painting one-sided picture of happenings in the state with sensational social media posts for selfish interests,” the NAWOJ Chairperson added.
She said, “As the Chairman of the National Association of Women Journalists, Kogi State Chapter, I want to say we are very happy with the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello. He is undoubtedly the only governor in Nigeria that has given women the strongest voice in governance. There are so many awards in this regard to attest to this.
“His ADC is a woman, his SSG is a woman, HOS is a woman, and all the vice chairmen of local governments are women, among other top positions. I understand there are over 30 very senior female appointees currently. Don’t forget that he also appointed the first female DG of a presidential campaign organisation. I can go on and on. So I can understand why women in Kogi Central have trooped out like this today to demonstrate their solidarity with him.”