By Kenechukwu Ofomah
Awka
Mothers have been advised to begin early to groom their girlchild in a manner that they will be politically conscious and show interest in political positions.
The Anambra State Chairperson of the African Action Congress (AAC), Chioma Ifemeludike in a chat with our Correspondent on women’s participation in Anambra politics.
In the Anambra State House of Assembly comprising 30 seats, only one female member was elected in the subsisting dispensation.
For the three senatorial zones, no single woman was elected, while only three out of the 11 members occupying various House of Representatives seats in the state are women.
Ifemeludike believes the trend does not give the opportunity to the women to explore their potential to bring about positive change in Anambra politics.
According to her, the current situation is a major setback for women in the state, considering that they had occupied majority positions in the senatorial seats at some point.
“We are seeing women relegated to the background and even those in positions, replaced by men.
“One would have thought that after occupying most of the state’s senatorial seats, they would take the accomplishment and run with it, to be forefront runners for political activities in Anambra State.
“The question now is what actually went wrong?” she queried.
The Anambra AAC boss stressed the need to start early to empower the girl child to take up leadership positions and not shy away from responsibilities.
She said: “This is actually a wake-up call for women and mothers to train their girlchild in a manner that they will begin to find interest in politics and deemphasize the mentality that it is to be left for men alone.
“That is why I as the state Chairperson of the AAC, am here to show the capacity of women and what we can be able to accomplish when given the right opportunity.”
Ifemeludike, spoke on the AAC and its vision for Anambra State under her leadership, said what the party offers to Anambra people is a departure from the exploitative governance he said they have suffered in the hands of the already thriving political parties in the state.
She said with a manifesto laced with deep insight and ideas on what it wants to achieve, said the AAC has come to change the situation whereby the people have been given less than what they deserve.
The AAC, she noted, wants to enthrone leadership at various levels that will aggressively drive infrastructural development, economic stability, the fight against corruption, and sectoral transformation.
Ifemeludike, who noted that these quality of leaders will emerge through credible party processes and internal democracy within the party, saying the party is averse to political jobbers.
“Under my leadership, we will entrench accountability and transparency in every fabric of our operations.
“As a woman, I am here to protect the soul of Anambra State, that it will be recorded that in our time, we stood for the truth, equity and justice.
“We therefore assure Anambra people that their time has come through the AAC, and we will not disappoint them,” she vowed.
