By Kolawole Ojebisi
Immediate past Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has explained why she has no iota of regret about her actions as a cabinet member in the President Bola Tinubu 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.
She noted that her commitment to defending vulnerable individuals in society remains unchanged.
Reacting to accusation that 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.
The former minister 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.”
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.”
Recall that Kennedy-Ohanenye’s time as minister was characterised by controversy, including issuing a threat to sue the United Nations (UN) for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for Nigeria.
