The Secretary to the Ondo State Government (SSG), Oladunni Odu, says the time is ripe for a woman to succeed the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in 2024.

Odu, who is the first female SSG in Ondo State, said “men had tried their best and it’s women o’clock”.

She said this at an interactive session with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo State Council, in Akure, the state capital, on Thursday, August 24, 2023.

Odu said women’s leadership qualities would bring about desired change and rapid development because of the family-centered blood in them, adding that she is the best for the governorship position after Akeredolu’s tenure on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

She said: “Let us test a woman. The trailblazing character of Ondo State will start from all of us to convince people, why they should look towards that direction.

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“And you are not just talking about anyhow woman but someone who has been tested. Somebody who has been around, somebody who knows her onions, somebody who knows the system.

“I am bold to say that of all the aspirants, none of them is as exposed to governance as myself.

“I have been around this place, in and out of governance in the last 27 years. So, I know what governance is.

“The men have done very well, I am not disputing that but all I am saying is that we should try women.”

The Commissioner for Education stressed that several women across generations were doing well and succeeding in chosen careers, saying she was confident that if elected as the first female governor in Ondo State, governance would not be difficult due to her wealth of experience.

The SSG, therefore, hailed President Bola Tinubu for aligning with the inclusiveness goal and the 35 per cent affirmation agenda with the appointment of women in his cabinet.

Odu was Commissioner for Education in Ondo State from 1995 to 1999 and Commissioner for Women Affairs from January 1999 to May 1999.

She was also the first female chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) from September 2003 to February 2009.

The Star