Dr. Rose Oko, is a familiar face in Cross River State politics. She has been around the political scene for some time, having served as Education Commissioner in the state before proceeding to work as a commissioner in the National Refugee Commission. But her initial attempts to serve her people as a Senator and governor all flopped. Last May, luck shone on her when she won the elections into the House of Representatives to represent the people of Ogoja/Iyala Federal Constituency of Cross River State. The academic tells Ruth Choji in this interview that she has always wanted a public platform to be able to render service to the people. She also says that Nigerian women are yet to get their due in the political arena even with the clamour for the 35 percent affirmative action.?
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What pushed you into politics?
I have been working in many capacities for years and I did not have the required satisfaction that I had done enough for my people. I therefore needed a political platform to be able to cater more for the people of the state. It never crossed my mind that I should even venture into politics. But people kept on pressing on me to go into politics in order to realize my ambition of serving my people better. They began to put ideas into your head by telling me that I could do better if I join politics. Initially I didn’t take that serious because I wasn’t interested in it, but with time I started nurturing the idea to see what I could to for my people. That is why I am a politician today.
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Surprisingly despite serious advocacy for women’s participation in politics, no woman has emerged a governor since the advent of democratic rule in 1999. What is responsible for this?
Well, my immediate answer is that is has to do with the nature of politics being played in Nigeria. Nigerian women would have made more progress than they have if the right atmosphere had been created for them to excel as in other countries of the world. I would say that our democracy is still young and the society is yet to do away with issues that work against women’s participation in mainstream politics.? First, we have men factionalizing women. We also have the gender issue. There is a lot of stereo typing of women by the society. Our cultural bias has in the past prevented decent? women from joining politics although that is beginning to give way largely because of local and international pressure, the Beijing Affirmative Plan of Action for Women and the recent 35 percent affirmative action. All of these have really helped to push women issues to the front burner. I keep on saying that Affirmative Action has made it possible for women to make progress in countries in many countries of the world and should be given serious consideration here. As much as we want women to go out there and fight for their right, it is certain that they cannot get there without an affirmative action. That is why I doff my heart for what the First Lady is doing in the area of mobilising women for their rightful positions in this country.
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But some are beginning to say that the Affirmative Acton is capable of limiting women from fully participating in decision making process in the country. How do you respond to that?
Whatever people may say, let us have the Affirmative Action first. It is my belief that women will eventually begin to serve as mentors and a source of motivation to others.
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Would you say that women have achieved the affirmative action with the number of women in the executive and legislature?
Not at all. In fact it is retrogressing, it was better in the Sixth National Assembly. But there are a number of issues involved. Politics in Nigeria is very expensive and women do not have that kind of capital outlay for campaign and other things necessary to win election. We are the poorest segment of the society. Even with the last election that was adjudged as the best election so far in this country, there was still some violence against women in certain places. Again, the notion that political meetings are held at night and the fact that women should not be out of their matrimonial homes in the dead of the night are all factors that prohibit women from politics. That is why it will not happen without affirmative action.
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Is that why you lost the gubernatorial election in your state?
When I contested, there were many male contestants. The present governor was one of the contestants. He was strong because he was in the ruling party and had more resources than me who was in the opposition.? I gave them a run for their money when I contested in 2003. I strongly believe that I won the election but was not given the post because I was an opposition politician.
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With what you passed through in the process of becoming the governor of your state, do you see a woman ever emerging a governor or president of this country?
Yes, I am sure women will defiantly take the center stage soon. Some enlightenment is coming in now, like the few women that have come on board. People are beginning to see that women in some key positions in Nigeria can do better than their male counterparts. That awareness is creeping in and through that way, there is hope that we will soon get there.
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You have been an educationist all your life. What in your opinion do you think is responsible for the sordid state of education in Nigeria?
Myriads of problems. The standard of education has been falling in this country for a long time. Funding is the major problem. We haven’t allocated the kind of funds that will make a lot of difference in the sector. Right now the education budget is retrogressing instead of increasing; there is no magic wane about it. Beyond that, the way the meagre resources are being managed coupled with corruption in the system; leave the system bleeding all the time.
Another problem is teacher education. We have not given serious attention to the training of our personnel in the system.
There is also the issue of indiscipline among our children and parents. Some parents are willing to pay to get their children certificates. Children don’t like reading and parents are ready to buy grades for them. If they are not cheating directly during exams, parents buy it for them. In this country we place so much emphasis on paper qualifications to the extent that many of the people with good grades cannot speak English or make a good sentence. Access to educa tion is not easy but that is being addressed by the nine-year compulsory primary and junior secondary education system.There have been calls for the scraping of post JAMB exams.
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What is your position on this?
I have mixed reactions to that.? I come from a university setting, because we know the number of students that come in, what you get is not commiensurate with the JAMB result you see. So my take on post UME is that, it is desirable but it should be done properly.? JAMB is doing a good job, but it is churning out more students than each university can take. It is in a bid to sort out the number based on quality of candidates that the universities resort to the test to conducting test to select the best from the excess number.
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How were you able to overcome these challenges associated with women in politics?
That is part of the reason why decent women stay away from politics because they don’t want to fit into that stereo typing. To a large extent, it depends on the individual; it depends on where you are coming from, your focus and where you are going to. I have been lucky, I got my education up to a PhD, and I did a number of things in the public service before I came to politics. In between public office and politics, I have gone into private business like construction to be able to stand on my own. In all of these attempts, I didn’t have to run to anybody to beg for money. Even in 2007, I never ran to anybody for money because that is where men hold women to ransom. But when you don’t beg, the men get to respect you.
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How do you hope to change the mentality of Nigerians from expecting instant rewards which is mostly money from their representatives to serious issues?
It is going to be difficult. Our job is to make laws and exercise over sight functions on government agencies but those who elected us expect us to go in there, get the money and bring it for them to share. They are not even concerned about your contributions to law-making. I blame this on the level of poverty level in Nigeria. If you go to the villages, you will see that people are extremely poor and are willing to fight for N500 or less. That mentality will continue until there is reduction in poverty in the country. You cannot eradicate that mentality from them. Politicians capitalise on this and spread some stipends around and then people forget the main job that brought them to the seat.
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If given another opportunity in life, would you like to come back as a woman?
I will, notwithstanding the stereotype that women have been accustomed to.? When I feel that there is something I have to do to improve my? society, I? don’t allow fear or anybody to? intimidate me. I am a woman and will like to come back as a woman.
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How do you maintain your beauty?
I didn’t know I was beautiful but I will take that as a compliment.? I have always been conscious of my weight, my mother is huge, my father wasn’t and I look very much like my father, but I have a tendency for weight.? I have always watched it as far as I can remember.? I try to eat the right food, I am not an exercise freak but once in a while I try to do it.
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What is your indulgence?
I am not into any. I don’t have excessive passion for anything.? I am not a food freak. I am not a socialite but I like to read a lot.? My only passion is helping people. I cannot stop helping people even though it is painful to discover that some people have taken advantage of your benevolence to curry favour by false means. My only indulgence might be clothes because I love good clothes.
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Women who have attained your status are seen as arrogant and disrespectful. Do you still cook at home?
Incidentally I am widowed.? Sometimes one should not be seen as arrogant if you are not able to do these things. When I first came to Abuja and my husband was still alive, I used to cook for my husband whenever I went to Calabar. Then I used to complain that I had become a housewife again because I always cooked for my husband. These things come naturally, and at times when you don’t do it, it is not out of arrogance. It could be because of the nature of your job. But it is wrong for women who are not tied up with office or political work to refuse to cook for their husbands because of the notion that ‘they have arrived’. It is wrong.
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What advice do you have for women?
I want to advise women who have what it takes not to be afraid to come out and try their hands. There are lots of women out there who have the zeal and passion to change the situation, but they are afraid because they don’t want to be stereotyped. They must be bold enough to stand their ground. I believe that? after a while the men will have no choice but to accept them.?