By Henry Uche
Abiodun Baiyewu coordinates Global Rights’ programmes and specifically works on access to justice, women’s rights, natural resources and security programmes from their Abuja office. Her work focuses on programmes that address governance failures that exacerbate the disenfranchisement and violation of the rights of the poor and marginalized, women and other victims of discrimination.
Before joining Global Rights, she worked with an array of organizations, including the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group, the O’Neill Institute for Global and National Health Law, the Center for African Policy and Peace Strategy, and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity.
Abiodun is the co-chair of the steering committee of the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability, chair of Justice Empowerment Initiative and a member of the governing board of Annies’ Place.
She was also a women’s law and public policy fellow in the Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa Program at Georgetown University. In addition, she is a writer, an accredited mediator, dispute resolution trainer and an HIV/AIDS youth counsellor. In this interview with Daily Sun, she outlined her cause and mission to humanity and what could be done to extricate Nigeria from the shackles of maladministration and mismanagement.
You pursue gender equality, fight against extrajudicial killings, ethnic cleansing, rape and other forms of sexual abuse; you also pursue environmental justice and sustainability, climate change and good governance, among others, what do you seek to achieve?
I grew up in a family in which our core values were equity and justice. My parents, my mother in particular, brought us up to seek justice for others, to stand for others, to consider that the purpose of our sojourn on earth is not just to pass by but to impact other lives. My faith also plays a major part in who I am.
If you were Nigeria’s first female President, what would you do differently?
That is never likely to become my ambition. However, if I ever find myself in that position, my core objective would be promoting the dignity of every Nigerian. I would prioritize the nation’s human resources: ensuring access to quality education for every Nigerian child, including the disabled. Public education has to work. My driver’s child must be able to aspire alongside my daughter to becoming a neurosurgeon or the President someday, passing through public education. I must become confident enough in our educational system to send my child to a public school without fearing for her future.
I would inspire Nigerians to first think of themselves as Nigerians before any other identity. I would revolutionize energy to be future thinking. We need to think and move beyond hydrocarbons to climate-smart alternatives, and decentralizing our grid. One of the things that government often worries about is that, if we decentralize the grid, it could enable secession. Look, if any region wanted to break away, they won’t need power from our moribund grid, they would just go solar and utilise other renewable resources of energy. I think that the grid as it is is itself a national security risk. I would also prioritize our health system. Finally, I would work on reorienting the civil service. It’s the people and the architecture of institutions that determine if they will work or not. You see if you get education, health, energy, and public service right, Nigeria would be on it’s way to fulfilling its potentials as a nation. Selfless leadership is the answer. We need to be ultrustic.
What if you were elected to the National Assembly (Senate or House of Representatives)?
I would remind myself every day that my agenda is a Nigeria that works and that I am representing the people first, above all else, not otherwise. When I have that consciousness of putting Nigeria first and fully aware that I’m there for the people who elected me, and understand the consequences of failing as a leader, I wouldn’t need a prophet to poke me before I could do the right thing at the right time and right place for the right result to be achieved.
How were you able to withstand opposition and other forms of dangers following what you do?
I am rarely conscious of danger. I set my eyes on the goal. God sent me on this mission. Challenges are inevitable, they must come in diverse ways, but we’re not deterred, there must always be a way out of troubles and way forward. God had ensured I never have to deal with what is detrimental to my wellbeing. Besides, I maintain a low profile.
What are those things that your fellow women do across board that get on your nerves?
My “fellow women” don’t get on my nerves. Humans can, but no person runs foul of me just because of their gender. So, no, women don’t get on my nerves.
What should Nigerian women do, going forward, for their own good?
They shouldn’t compromise on their citizenship rights and privileges, no matter the opposition. They must not shrink from desiring better things. They should stand to be counted. We have the potentialities to become anything and to do anything worth doing on earth.
What is your submission about the rejection of five gender bills by NASS?
I think that they point out that women are not thought of as full citizens in Nigeria. As the Constitution currently stands, for example, if I and my twin brother, born on the same day, got the same job and so pay the same amount in taxes, he would be able to pass on his citizenship to his foreign wife, but I would not be able to do the same for my foreign-born husband. I cannot even pass on indigeneship to my child! How fair is that? I would also face bias if I sought political office in the state of a man I am married to. I would not be recognized as originating from that state or LGA. We are human beings and should be treated as such.
Do you think Nigeria can ever get a Messiah, as some people believe Nigeria’s multilayered troubles have no remedy?
Good leadership is absolutely possible in Nigeria, but we will need to deliver ourselves from the constitutional provision, which only allows you to seek political office only through the political party system. Our political parties are some of our biggest problems today. Most of them are run by mafia-styled leadership, so sad. So, quality leadership can be seen in this country, if, for instance, one can seek political office through other means, not only through political parties system.