My husband appointed son because former deputy governor betrayed him-Ondo first lady

First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu has given the reason behind the appointment of her son, Babajide Akeredolu, as the Director General of the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit.

The first lady in an interview with The PUNCH said that the her husband’s decision was a sign that it was time for the youths.

He also said the decision became necessary after the former Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, who Akeredolu took as a son “betrayed” him.

“To start with, I don’t know if you heard about youth o’clock? There has been that clamour for youths to come on board. And the governor has a son who has demonstrated in a very profound way his competence; do you now leave him just to satisfy what?

“And again, you know in politics you need someone you can trust; someone that when you are moving in front, he won’t stab you in the back. I am sure you heard about the issues with him and his former deputy; a deputy that the governor trusted like a son. You tell Mr Governor, do this, he would say go to the deputy governor, yet the deputy governor betrayed him.  Once beaten is twice shy,”she said.

She also spoke on women’s involvement in governance in the country and the inability of the National Assembly to pass gender friendly bills.

“How can I be satisfied with it? Women remain relegated to the background with negative thoughts against us by men. We keep struggling to have a voice where our views, ideas will also contribute to nation building.

“People had to take the National Assembly to court when the women gender bills were rejected. We protested in front of the National Assembly under the scorching sun. It was even the House of Representatives that attempted to listen to us. Some of the women activists had to go to court to get court to make a pronouncement on the 25 per cent (affirmative action). But then, court pronouncement is one thing, implementation is another thing because, if you look at what is going on, there is stiff resistance.

“We are going into another election year; women are still not wanted. Women might not have all the money to throw around, but a woman that is competent and has what it takes to represent her constituency could rally people who could support her. Representation is not about distributing bags of rice and beans. We are talking about women who understand what the issues are; women who understand what good governance is all about. I can tell you that we have not got much from the men that keep presenting themselves for election every year. We vote for them but at the end of the day, there is nothing to show for it.

“So, we should give women a chance. Women need to be at the table where decisions are made and let us see if there will be a semblance of change and I can assure us that women will make positive changes if given a chance in 2023 because women are more compassionate when it comes to looking after people.  Good hospitals, roads and infrastructures, these are what women care about. These are issues that touch our lives on a daily basis.

“A mother will never be happy if her children have not eaten. Let women help fix the country. If I go there I will not be distracted with chasing girlfriends or taking them to Dubai and London for shopping or buying jeeps for girlfriends, as men do. Priorities of women are different. A man will spend millions of naira buying a choice wine, display to show he has arrived. If you come to my house, I will give you malt and water. If I put all that money together, I can have a scholarship scheme,” she added.