‘It’s a bold effort’ — UN Women commends Yahaya Bello for facilitating election of all-female deputy LG chairpersons

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has commended Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, for facilitating the election of women as deputy chairpersons of the 21 local government areas (LGAs) in the state.

Bello has carved a niche for himself in promoting female inclusion in politics and other leadership positions.

In 2016, Bello made history when he appointed Petra Akinti Onyegbule as the first-ever female chief press secretary of the state — she was also the second-ever female CPS in Nigeria as of the time she took office.

He also appointed the first female aide-de-camp (ADC) to a governor in Nigeria’s history. The secretary to the state government (SSG) is also a woman.

In December 2020, he swore in elected LG council chairmen and 21 vice-chairpersons — all the vice-chairpersons are women.

Bello’s penchant for appointing women into leadership positions comes at a time when Nigeria ranked low — 185th position out of 193 countries — on percentage of women in national parliaments.

In a commendation letter dated January 26, Comfort Lamptey, UN Women representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, described the appointment as a “bold effort” on the part of the state government.

Lamptey said the appointment would help the women gain governance skills at the local level, while preparing them to occupy higher offices in the future.

“On behalf of UN Women, I would like to take this opportunity to commend you for recently appointing women as deputy chairpersons in all the 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kogi State. This bold effort ensures a governance structure that is gender-balanced and well-positioned to harness the contributions of women at the local level, where government is closest to the people,” the letter reads.

“This significant move also affords the appointed women the opportunity to gain governance skills at the local level while preparing them to occupy higher offices in the future.

“I would further like to thank you for pushing forward the global agenda on gender equality and women’s political participation in Nigeria.”

Lamptey further called for a meeting with the governor to discuss possible partnership and collaboration “to support the newly-appointed women deputy LGA chairpersons to succeed in their new roles”.