By Tokunbo2

Copyright thesun

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

At the 9th Voice of Women (VOW) 2025 conference, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Nkeiruka Onyejeocha urged Nigerian women to embrace today’s opportunities for advancement.

“I am here today just by the grace of God and also to tell Nigerian women that the time is now,” Onyejeocha declared, reflecting on her unconventional journey into politics that defied her traditional upbringing.

The minister shared her childhood experiences growing up under the stern guidance of her grandmother, who instilled strict cultural norms. “I didn’t want to be in politics because I grew up with a traditional grandmother who was teaching me that you can’t even greet men. Boys are not your friends. Why are you standing with that one?” she recounted.

Onyejeocha spoke candidly about the discipline her grandmother enforced, waking them early for chores and church, which she believes instilled resilience and a strong foundation. “I believe that our girls today, who are now turning to be women, have to be trained in a particular way. I feel like at least discipline will be there. And that discipline will take you to places.”

Despite hardships, including the loss of her mother and family opposition to her education, Onyejeocha persevered through determination and faith. “I had to go through hell to remain in school… my grandmother was always beating me that I had to be educated,” she explained. She explained how she managed to support herself through school, serving diligently in various roles while fighting societal and familial constraints.

On her path to political office, Onyejeocha encountered skepticism and resistance. “Immediately I was nominated, I had people going to conduct campaigns against me. They said I was not a politician, I did not have card, I did not contribute. Why would they bring somebody from nowhere to become a commissioner?” she recalled. Nonetheless, she battled through multiple primaries and opposition to win her party’s nomination and eventually entered the House of Representatives, where she was elected four consecutive times.

Reflecting on the political landscape for women in Nigeria, Onyejeocha stressed that gender alone cannot guarantee electoral success. “I’ve heard many people say, ‘Oh, anywhere a woman is, vote the woman.’ If you do that, you will face sanctions; it will be anti-party. That’s the truth,” she warned.

She advised women against engaging in anti-party activities, such as belonging to one party while voting for a woman in another party, which can lead to expulsion from their own party. Instead, she urged that women support female candidates within the parties where they are members. “The solution is to let all the women that will contest struggle in parties that have name (prominent), and let the NGOs support these women and start from political parties. In that way, you have enough women in all the parties to struggle to stand for election.”

Onyejeocha urged reforms to create an enabling environment benefitting women political aspirants across party lines, highlighting the need for structured support beyond tokenism.