Renowned politician, fashionista and philanthropist, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa turned 70 years yesterday. In this interview with ONYEDIKA AGBEDO, she speaks about her life and career, noting that despite operating in an environment where men call the shots, she has never felt intimidated.

AT 70, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa is a fulfilled woman, and “absolutely has no regrets in life” so far. She believes she is where she ought to be at this age and that puts her mind at rest. However, she humbly and rightly attributes all her achievements to God.

“I give glory to God that I am celebrating 70 and by His grace in good health, both physically and mentally. I feel very settled in my mind. The most interesting thing is that I am very certain that I am in the right place that I should be. I feel very fulfilled with my family, my work and my charity. The position I rose to in my career as a politician is very fulfilling,” she says.

Ita-Giwa, who still retains much of her delectable appearance, says there is nothing strange in that as aging well is a trait in her family. “Naturally in my family, we age well and as an Efik woman, from the time you come into this world as a female, you are made to appreciate the fact that it is beautiful to be a female. So, whatever your aspirations are, the number one thing is that you must not lose your femininity.  That is why I always tell people that I am a Calabar woman and I am not scared of age because from the time you are born, you are taught how to look after yourself; so we age gracefully.  The idea is not to look young, I don’t want to be young but the idea is to age gracefully,” she notes.

On what she considers her achievements at 70, Ita-Giwa believes it would be immodest of her to blow her own trumpet. But she considers her bringing up Bakassi children through the Foundation of the Children of Bakassi, which she founded 10 years ago, as her greatest achievement so far.

“I think my greatest achievement is bringing up the children of Bakassi and turning them to normal human beings. Seeing the children grow, putting them in the best schools and giving them as much exposure as possible nationally and internationally, seeing them develop confidence in themselves, seeing them speak well and seeing them excel in school, that is my number one achievement.

“Beside that, my children have done well. My family is tremendously successful by the grace of God. In the field of politics that I chose as a career, I have played politics to where I managed to rise to the pinnacle of my career, which in a country as big as Nigeria, not many women can get there.

“I was a member of the House of Representatives; I have done two conferences, constitutional and national; I have won election to the Senate twice; I have been advisers to two very successful presidents of Nigeria.  So, I feel that I have done well in my chosen field. Even before I went into politics, I did well in my medical profession,” she notes.

Ita-Giwa says her primary motive for choosing politics as her career is to get a platform through which she could address issues affecting her people.

She says: “I went into politics because I needed a platform to address the issue of my Bakassi people and to also use that same platform to help the underprivileged, to speak for those who have been trampled upon, to be the voice of the people. I did not go into politics for the purpose of contesting and winning election. I went into politics to use the platform and today I am celebrating my 10 years of service to humanity.

And the fact that men dominate the Nigerian political terrain does not intimidate her. She reveals: “I look at myself as a human being and I don’t allow myself to be intimidated and I don’t go out of my way to intimidate people. I just know that all of us are in the business of nation building. So, for me, it is not an issue. It is for you to show your political strength.

“What I always tell people is let’s meet in the field as human beings. If you are good and nice to the people, it does not matter what gender you are. So, I don’t see politics as a gender thing. That is why I don’t play gender politics and then in the terrain I come from, it is difficult for you to play gender politics. So, we address each other as human beings.”

Despite the ups and downs of life from which no human being is immune to, Ita-Giwa stresses that she has lived 70 years on earth with “absolutely no regrets.”

“I thank God for every good thing and every bad thing that has happened to me. I am very grateful because God has compensated me with good things for the bad things that have happened to me. If I come back, I will still do it the same way.  I have enjoyed everything that came along with what I chose to be in life.

“From my career as a nurse, as a medical professional, I have enjoyed it. From venturing into politics, I have enjoyed it. I have enjoyed the liberation I got from being in politics. It has allowed me the opportunity to speak my mind freely.”

Ita-Giwa, who has been at the forefront of the campaign for the resettlement of the people of Bakassi in Cross River State, is optimistic that the incumbent administration in the state will look into the plight of the people.

“It is unfortunate that up till now, this country has still not settled the Bakassi people and they have become refugees out of no fault of theirs, but basically out of a wrong decision. But what is giving me hope today is that the new government is very passionate about the issue of Bakassi,” she notes.