On Wednesday, October 23, President Tinubu fired five ministers from his cabinet, including the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy. Her dismissal caused mixed reactions, with some Nigerian women vouching for her competence and others reading her for filth. But Nigerian women want answers to the real question: “Who is the new Minister of Women Affairs?”
Who is the new Minister of Women Affairs?
The President hasn’t publicly acknowledged why he had to let Uju go but has nominated Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim to replace her. Imaan is currently the Minister of State for Police Affairs but will resume Uju’s position as Minister of Woman Affairs and Social Development upon her handover.
Before becoming the Minister of State for Police Affairs, Imaan was the director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). But, she was removed from this position just five months later after former President Buhari faced accusations of nominating her, even though she was considered unqualified according to the agency’s law
Following Imaan’s nomination as the new Women’s Affairs minister on October 23, Wemimo Adewuni, a media personality, raised concerns about her integrity because the nominated Minister of Women Affairs was one of the political figures who advised Nigerian youths against joining the #EndBadGovernanceProtest.
Even though it is too soon to tell whether Imaan will have the best interest of Nigerian women at heart while she serves as minister, there’s still a need to question her competence in this role.
Why does it matter?
Nigeria is still far from achieving gender equality. 43.4% of women aged 20–24 were married before turning 18. The adolescent birth rate is 106 per 1,000 women aged 15-19, a disturbing increase from 120 per 1,000 in 2015. In 2018, 13.2% of women aged 15-49 reported experiencing physical or sexual violence from a current or former partner in the past year. Document Women’s recent data shows that Nigeria has a femicide problem that’s on a dangerous rise. One woman in power cannot solve all these problems, but having the right woman for the job is a start.
