The Minority Leader of the 8th Senate and vice president of Ecowas female parliament, Senator Biodun Olujimi has hailed the appointment of the first female Head of Service in Ekiti State, Mrs. Peju Babafemi, by Governor Kayode Fayemi.
In her reaction, she described the appointment as a progressive step in the emancipation of womanhood and gender equality.
She said with this gesture, the Governor has shown that any woman of proven integrity and required skills can get to the peak of her career.
Olujimi said she was happy that the governor is on the same page with his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi on the crusade for gender equality and the rights of women. She commended Erelu Fayemi for her doggedness in the struggle for the emancipation of the women and the protection of children and particularly, the girl child.
According Olujimi, the step by the governor in this appointment is a veritable sign that the female gender will fare better under the present administration in the state.
She averred, ”In our considerations as stakeholders, the broader perspective of Ekiti interest must be paramount and primary”.
While congratulating the new female Head of Service, Mrs Babafemi for making history, she admonished her to live up to the expectations of the critical stakeholders.
Olujimi, who is serving our second term as Senator representing the South Senatorial District of Ekiti state, is a strong and versatile voice in the fight for the rights of the female gender, having sponsored bills and gave talks on the matters both nationally and internationally.
In a recent paper she delivered in Gambia, she revealed that she has sponsored bills to make gender mainstreaming, a core value in Nigeria’s development agenda that will guarantee the rights of women to equal opportunities in employment, equal rights to inheritance for both male and female children and equal rights in marriage and divorce.
Others include equal access to education, property/land ownership and inheritance, protection of widows, outlawing violence against women and prohibition of gender discrimination in political and public life, Olujimi affirmed