Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, the former minister of women affairs,
says she did not regret her actions as a cabinet member in President Bola
Tinubu’s administration.
The former minister spoke on Wednesday during an interview
on Channels Television.
Kennedy-Ohanenye, who was among the five ministers sacked by
Tinubu in October, said she could not have acted better than the way she did
while in office.
Her time as the minister was characterised by controversy,
including issuing a threat to sue the United Nations (UN) for allegedly
mismanaging funds meant for Nigeria.
Responding to why the president relieved her as a minister,
Kennedy-Ohanenye said she was not a “witch” to have known the reason.
“I’m not a witch to know why I was sacked, and I have decided
not to think about it,” the former minister said.
“The important thing is that I have been sacked, and I have
refocused on what I was doing before.”
However, she noted that her commitment to defending
vulnerable individuals in society remains unchanged.
On why some Nigerians think she was not diplomatic as a
minister in handling some issues, Kennedy-Ohanenye said she was handling
sensitive cases that involved a lot of human sympathy.
Kennedy-Ohanenye argued that she was appointed as a minister
to serve the people and not to act as someone bigger than the people.
“Being a minister of women affairs as at that time, I was
handling sensitive cases,” she said.
“You can be in the office, and they will show you a girl who
was raped. You will see the substance from the man in her. I wonder what you
expect me to do.
“Some of them said, ‘she does not carry herself as a
minister. She goes to the police station herself. Why can’t she be in her
office and call the IGP?’.
“I’m sorry for some people, the way they think. As a
minister, you are supposed to be a servant; you listen to the people and
respond quickly before things go wrong.
“I don’t know what people think about being diplomatic when
things are damaging.
“I have no regrets in the way I did my job. I don’t have
regrets. I don’t think I could have done it better.
“That was the highest way I could have done it. That issue
of being diplomatic is what I don’t understand.”
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