Nigeria ripe for female president — Obi of Onitsha

Ahead of the 2027 general election, Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, on Monday, said Nigeria is ripe to have a female president.

Citing an example of the United Kingdom, which has had three female prime ministers, the monarch expressed confidence that a female president would perform well for the country.

The traditional ruler made the call at the public presentation of Senator Chris Anyanwu’s autobiography, Bold Leap, held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) auditorium in Abuja.

He also cited the example of Dame Virginia Etiaba, the first female governor in Nigeria, who was governor of Anambra State from November 2006 to February 2007.

“Anambra State has had a female governor in the person of Dame Etiaba. To change our situation, we need people like Chris Anyanwu, who can change the situation because she is still a fighter.

“In Nigeria, we have been talking and talking and talking, and I think it is time we begin to do something. We have two alternatives. It is either we keep milking the cow until it dies because of our sectional interests, which we tend to protect, and our personal interests for people going into public service, not to serve the public but to serve their own interests.

“So we keep doing that and bleed the cow to death, or improve the opposite and place Nigeria above everything else,” the monarch said.