Develop thick skin, Otufodunrin tells female politicians

Otufodunrin

Lekan Otufodunrin, prominent media personality, founder of Journalists For Christ, and Media Career Services, Managing Editor, Online, The Nation has said Nigerian female politicians might have to develop thick skin with regards to their political careers.

Otufodunrin made the statement while reacting to a recent view by Oseyiza Oogbodo, author of The Good Life, Short Story Galore, The Newell Murder, poet, social commentator, and curator, Oseyiza Oogbodo Blog, that female politicians should forego motherhood in order to be successful politically.

Both views were expressed at the Media Round Table on the Role of the Media in Combating Gender-Related Hate Speech Online through Objective and Conflict Sensitive Reporting organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) Lagos, West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development (HUFFPED) with the funding support of Peace Tech Lab and held on August 29, 2018 in Lagos.

Oogbodo

The forum was all about proffering solutions to why female politicians are not really doing well in Nigeria and also to encourage them with good media mentions as well as shield them from online hate speech which would discourage them from politics.

Oogbodo based his hard line view on the fact that the top two female politicians in the world presently, Prime Minister of Britain, Theresa May, and Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, are both said not to have children and while this factor might not be responsible for their enviable success, it cannot be discountenanced as well, especially in the face of the fact that one of the most salient factors confronting Nigerian female politicians is their family life.

And reacting to Oogbodo’s view, Otufodunrin said he wouldn’t want female politicians to go to that extreme, but rather develop thick skin to all the negative speech be it online or to their faces that would discourage them from politics.

Oh well, different strokes for different folks.