A professor of Language and Communication Arts at the Rivers State University of Education, Prof. Olufumilayo Adesanya-Davies, on Tuesday declared her intention to contest Nigeria’s presidential seat during the 2019 general elections.
Adesanya-Davies, who is from Ira, Kwara State, said the sale of nomination forms free for women aspirants boosted her interest in the race.
She, however, said she was still keeping the platform of the party under which she would contest a secret.
Adesanya-Davies said, “I am aspiring to be the next president of Nigeria. I am out to put laughter of joy in the mouth of all Nigerians.
I have discussed this with the former presidential candidate, Sarah Jubril, who incidentally is from Kwara State. Her reaction was that ‘if a miracle like this will ever happen, we have paid the price in Kwara State and it is going to happen in the state.
“Nigeria has opened the ground for the Nigerian women, my ticket is that of Nigerians, as the presidential form is free for women.
“Historically, we will recall in 2015 another woman presidential candidate came, she floated a party called the KOWA party. Her name is Prof. Remi Sonaya, she was my lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University.”
She added, “2015 was when I first thought about being a presidential aspirant. This is for the main reason that I was born on October 15th and I got married on October 15th.
That time I said with President Goodluck Jonathan in the Peoples Democratic Party, I was going to be his running mate. I was sending text messages to him. I told him to let the then Vice-President Nnamadi Sambo step down for him to be successful but he did not listen to me.
“But delay is not denial, that is why I am staging a comeback. I have done some consultations. The first person to put a call through was Patience Jonathan.
I told her that I am picking the presidential form this time around and she endorsed my decision.
“Our first thanks will go to the nation – Nigeria that says the ladies could pick nomination forms at every level. Nigeria is confident that the current challenges in the country can only be tackled by the women.”
Adesanya-Davies, however, urged Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari.
She said Buhari was not sleeping, adding that the president needed to consult widely and have deep reflection before taking decisions.
She said, “The test of maturity is taking responsibility for your irresponsibility. You take a decision and you gonna allow it to sail through.
A four-month old pregnancy cannot be delivered; you have to be patient and quietly allow for delivery when the pregnancy is nine months old. We were the one that did the voting, we accepted the change and now the change is here.”
