Yahaya Bello and His Women - By Haruspice »

Standing tall, beautifully built, sternly attractive with a no-nonsense posture is ASP Ifeoma Akaya. Surprisingly, she is not the only woman around Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. Unrefuted information has it that she is the first female police Aide-De-Camp (ADC) to a governor in Nigeria. More striking is the fact that she shares no ethnic or religious affinity with the governor. Her choice is a practical demonstration of Governor Bello’s quest to have women elevated to the ladder of equal opportunities as men.

Besides his ADC, the man who holds sway as the landlord of the confluence state of Kogi has in his catalogue women in different positions. Dr Folashade Arike, the Secretary to the State Government leads the pack of first in the record of numbers of those who have been scribes of the state. She coordinates the policy thrust of the New Direction government of the state. While the governor and his deputy sit atop during cabinet meetings, Dr Arike sits in regal pride, representing the women of the state on the table of decision making. Since 2016 till date, Madam Folashade Arike has been the Secretary to the State Government, which is quite unprecedented in the annals of history of the state since it was created and has traversed both military and civilian administrations.

The State’s bureaucratic set up is also led by another woman – Mrs Hannah Onyinoyi Odiyo. Saddled with the task of providing synergy between bureaucracy and policy issues, she steers the public service towards its desired optimal productivity.

Professor Marietu Ohunene Tenuche, sits in reference again as the first female Vice Chancellor of the first state university.
Mrs Victoria Jagboro is the Provost of the Kabba College of Education Technical, while Hajia Rekiya Onaivo heads the Kogi State Enterprise Development Agency. Hajia Aishat Suleiman coordinates the Kogi State Investment and Properties Limited, Dr Ronke Bello champions the Investment and Policy Drive of the government, Hajia Hassiat Suleiman provides guides for the State Solid Mineral Development sector, and the television goddess, Mrs Avoyi Barikisu Nwogu serves as a media Aide to the Governor.

Undoubtedly, Governor Bello luxuriates in personal fulfiment lifting women from the doldrum of second fiddlers. More striking is his ingenuity in designating all local Vice-Chairman slots for women. What this means is this, women are vice chairmen for the 21 local government areas in the state! About 60 councils are occupied by women in Kogi state.

Sustaining his advocacy of ‘He for She’, the Governor at the beginning of his administration also had a female Chief Press Secretary, another first feat for him.

His current aide-de-camp, against the usual convention, reminds us of Bello’s unapologetic love for women empowerment. Several women are also serving as special assistants, commissioner, advisers and even local government administrators. In a way, the governor could be described as a feminist as he is a firm believer of the fact that the place of a woman should not be relegated to the kitchen or pigeon-holed to the ‘Oza’ room in modern society.

Fittingly and as the statistics speak to this reverberating reality, no governor or any current political office holder in the country comes close to Governor Bello in terms of actually engaging women at the highest level of political engagement. If there’s any award to be given to the Nigerian patriot and leader who believes today is for women and no longer the elusive tomorrow, which is a probable hope Nigerian leaders of yore used to deceive the Nigerian women to extract their support in the past, then no any other person merits the award than Governor Bello. And this is without any prejudice to others as it is evidence-based.