The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, has challenged Nigerian women to brace-up and take over leadership from President Muhammadu Buhari, come 2023.
Mohammed, who led a delegation of UN senior officials on a visit to Nigeria, stated this on Tuesday while speaking on a television programme in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
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The UN envoy met with the President at state house on strategies to rebuild after the devastations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mohammed said all Nigerians must come together to rebuild the country, regardless of ethnic or political affiliations.
“We need to recognise what is not right, work towards making it happen and know that we can do this together; individually and collectively we have responsibilities,” she said, adding that there was the need to respect each part of this country as “we all have something of value to offer”.
Mohammed noted that Nigeria can provide the kind of leadership that Africa wants by working towards achieving the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
When asked whether she would like a woman to succeed Buhari as Nigerian leader, the UN top official said, “That is my hope and I do not see that there isn’t a woman that cannot do that. I always believe that you should strive for that aspiration and don’t fail for want of trying.
“So, women should stand up. They have 50 per cent of the votes and if they can convince the ‘hes’ for ‘shes’, the men who support women, then absolutely why not? There is no reason why a woman cannot lead Nigeria.”
