Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has said that she never had cause to visit governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta state when she was in charge of the anti corruption body because the governor was running a transparent administration.
Speaking at the maiden edition of The Sun Women Leadership Summit in Asaba today, Mrs. Waziri gave Dr. Uduaghan administration a pat on the back for following due process in its financial transactions.
“The governor never crossed my path and I never crossed his while I was in EFCC. That is why I have the confidence to come into Delta State.
“He is a performing governor, following due process and he has done very well for his people. When I was coming, I thought I will have to land in Benin, but was told there was an airport here; the Asaba International Airport that I saw is one of the best in the country. Your Governor has performed well in infrastructural development.”
She said that the Sun Women Summit was timely and urged women to always put in their best in whatever they do saying: “I want to ask women not to lose their femininity and they should respect themselves, dress responsibly and at the end, they will earn respect.”
Governor Uduaghan, who declared the summit open asked women to always cooperate among themselves so as to harness their potentials to the fullest in their fields of endeavour, stressing: “women must come together to win in a man’s world. They should refuse to be used to pull down or limit their fellow women in whatever fields of endeavour.”
Dr. Uduaghan noted that women have the capacity to aspire to any position if they are united and that most often, they don’t succeed for positions they aspire to because their fellow women are being used to thwart their efforts.
“Women must agree to work together. They will win in elections by refusing to be manipulated by men to be used against their fellow women.”
Dr Uduaghan added: “men can manoeuvre their ways in politics but, it is difficult for women to do so.”
The Governor said that Delta State has surpassed the 35 percent affirmative action for women, adding that his administration has identified the abilities of women in producing results and is harnessing such abilities to the fullest.
Dr. Uduaghan said that a lot of women from Delta State have recorded great successes in different fields of life, observing that the former Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Evelyn Oputu, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonko-Iweala, Blessing Okagbare among others, were making Nigeria proud in their chosen fields.
Evelyn Oputu, in a thought-provoking keynote lecture, said that for Nigeria to have the status of a developed nation, the potentials of women should be unlocked, observing that women have the same traits as men.
The Managing Director of Sun Newspaper, Mr. Femi Adesina had explained that the summit was an important forum to give women the opportunity to discuss on the way forward. She commended the Delta State Government for hosting the maiden edition of the summit.
Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, who was the chairperson of the occasion expressed hope that the summit would provide women the opportunity to be involved in the decision making process of the country. [myad]
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