Former Ondo State First Lady and Labour Party candidate for Owerri Federal Constituency, Dr. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has urged women across the country to move beyond political mobilisation and take active roles in decision-making and governance.
Anyanwu-Akeredolu, who spoke in Owerri during a meeting with Labour Party Local Government Area and ward women leaders, said women must reject a political culture that reduces their participation to receiving money and material gifts during election periods.
She challenged women leaders to see their positions as responsibilities requiring them to understand the issues affecting their communities, organise their people, advocate for their interests and demand accountability from political office holders.
According to her, “we must begin to unlearn the politics of immediate personal enrichment and learn the politics of public service,” stressing that political decisions directly affect roads, healthcare, markets, security, education and economic opportunities.
The Labour Party candidate also called for greater representation of women across all levels of government, from local councils and state legislatures to the National Assembly and executive positions.
She identified culture, political structures, financial constraints, intimidation and violence as some of the barriers limiting women’s participation in politics, while urging women not to abandon the political space because of the challenges.
“We have a portion at the table. If there is no chair for us, we will carry our chairs. If the table is already crowded, we will squeeze in. But we must not leave the political table,” she said.
Anyanwu-Akeredolu said her campaign was also focused on creating a pipeline of women leaders who would inspire younger women to aspire to elective positions.
She argued that issues affecting women should be treated as governance issues, citing the conditions of markets where women constitute a significant proportion of traders.
She said improving markets should go beyond physical structures to include sanitation, water supply, security, lighting, accessibility, storage facilities, fire prevention and waste management.
Presenting her proposed eight-pillar agenda, Anyanwu-Akeredolu listed women and girls, youth opportunity through the Empower2Become initiative, healthcare and social protection, security and peacebuilding, education and human capital development, economic empowerment and infrastructure, equity and inclusive development, as well as constituency needs assessment through what she described as the “Windshield Survey.”
She said the survey was designed to enable her engage directly with communities and identify their needs rather than relying solely on assumptions from Abuja.
The candidate charged the women leaders to take the campaign message to wards, homes, markets and communities while also listening to residents and documenting their concerns.
“Politics should not only be about talking to the people. It should be about listening to the people,” she said.
She further said the objective of her political engagement was to build a system that would outlive any individual, particularly by creating opportunities for younger women to participate in politics and leadership.
Anyanwu-Akeredolu urged the women leaders to organise, mobilise, educate and advocate around issues affecting their communities, insisting that political change would require citizens to become active participants in the political process.
She said her campaign slogan, “Ada Owere Listens,” was intended to underscore her commitment to community engagement and evidence-based constituency representation.
