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�Women have graduated from the kitchen�
Mrs. Colleen Iheaka is the President General of Umuada Abia Forum International, an organisation for married women from Abia State supporting the government and people of the state. She told Omolola Awe that women are now to be reckoned with in all spheres of life
WHEN the President General of Umuada Abia Forum International, Mrs. Colleen Iheaka, was asked whether civilisation has had any effect on the way African men treat and perceive the roles of women, she said, �African men don�t know anything about civilisation. As far as they are concerned, a woman is a woman and her place is in the kitchen.� But, perhaps, to escape being seen as categorising all men as the same, Iheaka quickly added, �But we thank God for people like our husbands who have thought it wise to let their wives go. Women are no longer the weaker sexes as they are proclaimed to be. We have graduated from our place in the kitchen and the bedroom to a higher place. But it is only if we use the power placed in us would our men realise this.
Iheaka, whose organisation is providing support for the people and government of Abia State, used the examples of the Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, Mrs. Dora Akunyuli, and the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as women who have realised and nurtured the potentials in them. She said the truth was that the men folk have failed the nation and should therefore give the women the opportunity of proving what they could do.
She said, �Maybe not a woman president for now but put women in the strategic place at the helm of affairs and you would see the difference. Give the National Electric Power Authority, the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited or the Nigerian Ports Authority to a woman today and see the changes that would come upon these institutions. Looking at it now, I don�t think it would be possible to have a woman president but at the same time, I don�t think it is something that would never happen. It would only take time and maturity.�
She said there was no basis for the complaint by men that women in positions of authority were neglecting their homes. Using the examples of women who had held and are holding sensitive positions of authority worldwide, Iheaka said, �Margaret Thatcher had a home when she was the Prime Minister of Britain, Hillary Clinton had a home and these women are doing well. Why is it only here that we begin to talk of the home front before we give a woman a responsibility? Before any woman comes out as a public figure, her home must have been put in proper order. It wouldn�t be a woman that is still nursing babies or has other responsibilities at home as a mother. Someone whose last child is between the ages of 17 to 20 can come out and serve her country thereby contributing her own quota to making the country great again.�
The UNIJOS English graduate said it would be easy for women to climb higher on the leadership ladder if only they stop the �pull her down syndrome.� She said, �Women like to castigate themselves especially when they think they are not where they think they should be. If we support ourselves then the higher we�ll climb.� The mother of five, who was recently honoured with the traditional title of Ada Oganiru 1 of Abia by the Abia State council of traditional rulers and Adaugo of St. Ambrose catholic Church by the Catholic Archdiocese of Aba, said she is not a politician and does not intend to become one but she would support any woman that is bold enough, has the wherewithal, the support of her family and desires to truly serve the country.
Iheaka is married to an educationist and proprietor of Plateau School of Accountancy and Management Studies, Mr. Eke Iheaka.
The Punch, Monday August 02, 2004
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The President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
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