Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has said unlike those who parade the number of women their government had appointed to leadership positions as achievements, women in leadership is a way of life in Lagos.
The governor made the remark Thursday at Ikeja, Lagos, during the send-off of the state’s outgoing Head of Service, Mrs. Josephine Williams.
According to Fashola, Lagos State has a tradition of appointing women to important and sensitive positions, adding they have overtime performed creditably well.
He said, “Today, our Head of Service, Mrs. Josephine Williams, bows out from service in fulfilment of statutory obligations. I will like to say first to those who tout the presence of women in leadership as achievement that they need to look beyond their narrow concerns.
“When you look at the body of permanent secretaries in Lagos, the civil service, leadership of parastatals in Lagos and the Lagos judiciary, you will see that leadership for women in Lagos is no longer an achievement, it is a way of life.
“So if some people think that they are doing women a favour by saying that appointing women to leadership positions is an achievement, they are living in a different world because in Lagos, leadership by women is already a way of life”.
Commenting on the state of the nation, the governor said he decided to title his address, ‘This Cup will Pass’, to press home the message of hardship the current leadership at the federal level was subjecting Nigerians to.
He added, “I have decided to title my address, This Cup will Pass, because our country is being forced to drink a very heavy cup, but it is a cup that will pass. Even though we have gathered to celebrate, some of the things we see now are really terrible.
“The difference between good and bad is becoming difficult to tell. And governance is not necessarily about building roads and bridges, and about providing jobs, it is also about a high moral authority”.
Williams is leaving the public service of Lagos State after attaining the statutory 35 years of service.
She was, until her recent appointment as the Head of Service in 2013, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Williams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos.
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