Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said women must be physically, emotionally and psychological prepared to succeed in politics.
“If you are not strong physically, your chances are reduced, but you must also believe in God,” he said.
Obasanjo spoke in Lagos when he chaired the Women’s Power Lunch, an initiative of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF).
It was jointly organised by the Women in Development Enterprise Across Africa (WIDEAA), co-founded by MMF’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode.
Former Malawi President, Dr. Joyce Banda, who delivered a speech on the theme: Women in Solidarity, a new paradigm for inclusion, urged women to aspire for leadership.
“We have to ensure that women issues move from the peripheral to the centre stage,” she said, adding that women must be economically empowered and not discriminated against.
“Women need empowerment, while the girl-child needs education,” she said, urging women to unite rather than work against each other.
During the question and answer session, Dr. Banda was asked if she attended political meetings held at “unholy” hours, such as 3:00am.
She said: “If you don’t want to go through what men pass through, then you don’t want to be in politics.”
Obasanjo added: “You must also make your own nocturnal meetings last longer than that of your opponents. It’s the way it’s done almost everywhere.”
The former president joked that when he was in power, he once asked people who went for pilgrimage in Mecca to pray for the success of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “when PDP was PDP.”
He recalled that someone added that not only would they pray for PDP, they would also listen to what the opposition party members were praying for.
“You must be well equipped to succeed in politics,” Obasanjo told the women.
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