Shettima made this known at the reading session of a book authored by the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Usman.
In the book titled, ‘Stepping on Toes, My Odyssey at the Nigerian Ports Authority,’ Usman detailed her experience with the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, among other issues while heading the ports as the first woman to occupy that position.
Shettima, in his brief speech, commended the author of the book while expressing the willingness of their administration to be gender-friendly.
He said, “She is an iron lady, I don’t think I have the courage to write such a book. Be that as it may, I am here in solidarity with our sister. We need to show empathy and support for our women.
“There is a popular saying among the people of Ghana that if you educate a man, you have educated an individual, if you educate a woman, you have educated a nation.
“Be rest assured that the incoming administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will be gender-friendly. He was the first governor to appoint a female as his deputy; he is also the first person to appoint a woman as a Chief Judge of a state. In the North, I was the first person that had five women as members of the state Executive Council.”
Shettima also added that he will allow the incoming administration to give utmost respect for the Rule of Law.
He said, “Be rest assured that we will observe the rule of law.”
The Vice-President-elect also encouraged Nigerians to imbibe a healthy reading culture.
He said, “We need to read to know what is happening in the world, our reading culture in this part of the world is poor, people hardly read.
“At times, I buy books just to show solidarity with authors. I spend up to N500,000 at once just in solidarity with authors, I buy books and share them with friends and family members.
“People find it easy to spend a fortune to buy Apple wristwatches and so on but hardly do we buy books. We may not be authorities on everything but we should be knowledgeable about everything.”
Earlier, in the reading, the former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, commended the author for doing a great job by sharing her side of the story.
Adoke noted that he could relate to her ordeal as he was also a victim of the same circumstances.
Before then, Usman stated that she knew that she decided not to be the victim that got accused of embezzling public funds.
She said, “When you call out big people that have networks, automatically know that you will always come under verbal attacks everywhere.
“So, I decided that I had to tell that story rather than keep quiet and be fingered as the person who looted the NPA.
“I felt it was important that I put the records straight in the public space. I had to put this out there to encourage others; I love to read memoirs across the board.”
