PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

CPAO Atim George Offers Winning Formula  to Nigerian Women Seeking Elective Office
(Abuja: Saturday, July 11, 2009)

Paticipants at the international women’s conference Kaduna. | FULL SIZE

The Counselor for Public Affairs  Atim George on Saturday, July 11 spoke to a group of over 300 women leaders who gathered in Kaduna for an international women’s conference organized by the Peace and Development Initiative and Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS), a U.S. Government funded grantee.

In her paper entitled “She Got Game,” the CPAO spoke on the importance of preparation in every contest, and advised the women leaders to develop a game plan to improve their chances of winning elective office.  She listed four attributes that women politicians can incorporate to their game plan to make it effective and efficient.

These include “Guts”, which stands for “getting up to speak and articulate the aspirations, goals and priorities of one’s constituents”; Achievement, which means “demonstrating concern, competency and compassion”; men, money and motivating message, which signifies “getting the support and assistance of men, getting money and other resources to run a political campaign, and having motivating message that inspires people to support the candidate with their time, talents, money and votes; Ethics, or “adherence to honorable standard of conduct, which serves as a moral compass and guidance system to steer one’s course through the trials and tribulations  inevitably surface.“

Ms.  George reminded the participants of the importance of holding public office, noting that it is not enough to have female faces in high places if we do not see an improvement in the quality of life for the people. 
In her keynote address, the guest speaker, Dr. Mairo Mandara noted that Nigerian women have been relegated to the back bench by men; she called on women to use the opportunity offered by the conference to define their agenda because nobody else has their mandate to do it. She noted that women can be a powerful force in moving the country forward if they claim their fundamental rights and come together to support one another.
The wife of Kaduna State Governor, Mrs. Amina Namadi Sambo,  who was the Special Guest at the conference noted the challenges that Nigerian women face in politics and promised to present a strong case on their behalf to her husband whom she described as gender sensitive.  She urged the participants to come up with useful recommendations that can be incorporated into the electoral reform bill.

Over 300 women attended the conference, including some 35 female alumni of the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program of the U.S. Department of State; YES alumni made a wonderful presentation on the role of youth in national development.  They used the occasion to launch a fundraising drive for their community development projects. Other alumni of IRIS programs also presented reports on the various projects they carried out upon their return from United States.  Three female legislators as well as the Mayor of Ames, Iowa served as moderators as part of their3-week State Department-funded exchange program to Nigeria.