The Purple Women Foundation founder, Ireti Bakare has
sharply criticized Senator Ireti Kingibe for allegedly diminishing Senator
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s fight against gender discrimination in Nigerian
politics.
In a recent Arise TV interview,
Bakare expressed disappointment with the lack of female visibility in Nigeria’s
legislative chambers. “The only four women that you have in the Senate, we
don’t see them. It’s not just a case of seats, it’s about visibility,” Bakare
stated. “And it’s unfortunate that we have a Senator such as Ireti Kingibe,
it’s sad she bears my name. Not only was she incoherent yesterday but she
doesn’t understand the critical importance of being seen as a woman.”
She contrasted Sen. Kingibe’s position with
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s challenging political journey: “She has forgotten that
Senator Natasha had probably 12 years of trying and trying and being abused and
maligned in Kogi State. The road to her constituency was dug up by the former
Governor Yahaya Bello. There were threats to her life yet this woman did not
give up.”
The women’s rights advocate praised Akpoti-Uduaghan’s
determination: “She was determined and she was focused, she was undeterred and
she continued and she persevered until she got there.”
She expressed a particular frustration with what she
perceived as Kingibe’s condescending attitude: “It is sad that somebody like
Senator Ireti Kingibe who clearly only just got there like that doesn’t
appreciate the struggle of her colleague.”
She also criticized Sen. Kingibe’s choice of language
during her recent appearance while addressing Sen. Natasha: “But what’s even
worse, and this is on a personal level, is the infantilization we do this in
Nigeria. Senator Kingibe yesterday kept referring and infantilizing Senator
Natasha as ‘my daughter.’ No she’s not, she’s your colleague. You are both
Senators.”
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