Don’t scrap Office of First Lady, says Prophetess

A women rights crusader, Prophetess Nonny Robertson, on Tuesday criticised calls by some people for the scrapping of the Office of the First Lady by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Robertson said in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday that the decision of the critics was not in the best interest of women.

“It is wrong to scrap the Office of the First Lady because it is mere semantics as the wife of the president remains what she is whether designated a First Lady or not.

“Calling for the scrapping of the office would adversely affect the fortunes of women and their expected contributions to nation building,” the statement said.

The statement noted that the non-recognition of the First Lady’s office in Nigeria’s political scheme of things was already taking its toll on the family.

“We have had series of first ladies; your perception about them is only real to you but not to another person.

“If you perceive that one or two first ladies misbehaved, you will also perceive that some did well.

“So there should be no need taking a drastic action abolishing the Office of the First Lady.

“If we notice that they go out of the bounds, we should find a way to curtail that rather than scrapping the office entirely,” it added.

He stressed the need for gender balance in governance as the womenfolk had all it takes to contribute immensely to the growth of the country.

Robertson called on the Federal Government and the 8th National Assembly to come up with an affirmative action to reserve some seats for women.

NAN reports that the debate for the scrapping of the office of the First Lady by the present administration has recently dominated discussions in different quarters.