Veteran Nollywood actress, Joke Silva expresses concern over the marginalization of women in leadership roles in Nigeria, particularly within the political sphere. Joke Silva shared her views in a recent interview with TVC where she lamented that, despite women being prominent leaders in pre-independent Nigeria, they have lost ground in recent times.
The esteemed actress emphasized that Nigeria should have, by now, witnessed the election of at least one democratically elected female governor. It is worth noting that the only female governor of Anambra State, Virginia Ngozi Etiaba, assumed office in 2006 but was not elected. She took over the state’s affairs following the impeachment of Governor Peter Obi by the state legislature on grounds of alleged gross misconduct. In her words; “In the area of leadership, especially political leadership, women have regressed. I mean, we had some really powerful women. You mentioned Fumilayo Kuti earlier. All these powerful women. There were so many of them spread around the nation. So, you expect them to grow in numbers by now. “At least by now, we should have had a female governor. Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu for one, in contemporary Nigerian politics, is probably the most experienced female politician. She was just in the Senate for a long time and now she is the First Lady. But the thing is this: how many others? But we have so many male senators. It goes back to what late Chief MKO Abiola used to say: ‘A nation clapping with one hand.’ How do you clap? How is it heard?”
