Oluremi Tinubu, the Senator representing Lagos Central District, has said the National Assembly is gradually turning into an ‘exclusive gentlemen’s club’.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja, at her induction and into the Hall of Fame, Senator Tinubu decried men’s insatiable quest for presiding offices in the National Assembly, saying they have not exhibited good sportsmen spirit.
She, however, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to show magnanimity in appointing many women into his cabinet.
Mrs. Tinubu said: “Do we need women in the public place? Yes, that is why I am here to encourage the younger generation to reach for the sky.
“It has always been seven or eight women in the National Assembly, the National Assembly is turning into exclusively a gentleman’s club and I think that if we are not careful, that is what it will turn out to be and it is quite sad.
“I don’t think they are being good sportsmen; they are quite vicious when it comes to positions; everybody is striving and I think we women have to start raising boys that are gender-friendly. We raised all these selfish men and this is what we pay for that.
“The coming generation should begin to raise men that would not feel threatened by a woman who is in a top position, so we still have a lot to do but the current men that are here are very vicious when it comes to seeking for top positions.
“Not that they don’t allow women, it is just that everyone is striving so hard and you can see that the violence in politics is keep women back, there are a lot of things keeping women back but the point is that the men are not just gender-friendly. I was just looking when we went for registration today and I was just looking because it was just a sea of men.
“We are still watching and hoping that maybe, the President will be magnanimous enough to appoint a lot of female ministers but they should be ministers who will not disappoint us and do the work; not to go there and embezzle money. You know the last experience was not actually pleasant, it should be women who are ready to serve and make the necessary sacrifice.”
In her remarks, the wife of the President, Aisha, who opened the induction, called on women to help the country out of the grip of greed and corruption.
Mrs. Buhari also urged women in leadership positions to operate under the confines of transparency, honesty and integrity that are the core values of this administration.
