Why I didn’t “carry” myself as minister — Ohanenye-Kennedy

Former Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Uju Ohanenye-Kennedy, has spoken on reasons for what she described as her ‘undiplomatic’ approach while she oversaw the affairs of the ministry.

Mrs Ohanenye-Kennedy, who spoke on Politics Today on Channels Television on Wednesday, said she does not know why she was sacked.

She also said she has no regrets about how she executed her job while in office.

During a cabinet reshuffle in October, the lawyer was one of the five ministers relieved of their duties by President Bola Tinubu.

The ex-minister was replaced with Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, the then Minister of State for Police Affairs.

‘Undiplomatic approach’

The former minister said a minister serves the people, listens and “responds quickly before things go wrong.”

She noted that she handled sensitive cases that required personal and physical intervention.

She said: “You will be in the office, and they will bring a two-year-old and show you some substance from the man transmitted to the girl and show that this girl has been raped.

“I wonder what you would have expected me to do.

“‘Some people said why doesn’t she carry herself as a minister? She goes to the police station herself. “Why couldn’t she call the IG?”

She recalled another instance where she noted that a suspect in an alleged defilement case was about to be set free, revealing that she rushed to the police division and court to ensure the suspect was remanded.

“The matter is still ongoing,” she added.

Underfunded ministry, yet wasteful

According to the ex-minister, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is “underfunded yet wasteful.”

She said: “You will tell people that you can’t spend this amount of money to do just meeting when people are suffering…You can’t spend so much hundreds of millions to do that while there is hunger. There is no way you can achieve anything from that.

“And if you have said it over and over again, and it was done behind your back, what do you expect me to do?

“I have a responsibility given to me to man that place and ensure that things go right, and I wouldn’t tolerate anybody trying to rubbish the seat.”

Controversies

Speaking specifically about her threats to sue the United Nations during her tenure over what she termed the mismanagement of funds meant for Nigeria, Mrs Ohanenye-Kennedy said she has “no issues” with them.

“All I wanted them to do was to change the action plan in such a way that it will make an impact on our people — the vulnerable people,” she said.

During her tenure, she had a faceoff with lawmakers, stormed “unauthorised” events and attracted other controversies. For instance, she once accused the officials of the World Bank of collecting 40 per cent of every loan granted to Nigeria as a consultancy fee. A claim that the World Bank refuted.