Women are more reliable in politics – Obasanjo

The former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that women are more reliable in politics than their male counterparts.

The former President however said that women suffered cultural and religious inhibitions thus depriving them of political opportunities to exhibit their potentials.

He spoke on Wednesday when the national executive and members of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists visited him at his Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The women journalists presented the ex-President with a Father of the Nation award during the visit.

Obasanjo said the task of building a nation could not be achieved only by men.

He said, “One of the best journalists that ever served me was a woman, and that was the late Mrs Oluremi Oyo. In politics, women are more reliable than men. When a woman says she is with you, you can really take it that she is with you.

“But if a man tells you he is with you and you catch him in another meeting, he will tell you it is politics. It should not be so.

“When a politician’s words cannot be believed, then you are turning politics into another thing. A politician must be a man or woman of honour that believes in morality.”

The National President of NAWOJ, Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, said the visit was in recognition of Obasanjo’s belief in the unity of the country.

Omowole observed that the recent bad development in the country was due to disunity among the various ethnic groups.

She said that NAWOJ, as part of the effort to correct this, was planning to have a unity conference next year during which Obasanjo would be the chief host.

She also intimated the former president on the plan by NAWOJ to build 500 housing units in each state of the federation.