By Adeyemi Adeleye/Grace Alegba
The Directorate of Professional Women, Independent Campaign Council (ICC) of APC Presidential Candidates Committee, Lagos State, on Monday urged technocrats to actively engage in the nation’s electoral process to elect credible leaders.
The Director, TinubuShettima/Sanwo-OluHamzat, ICC, Dr. Atinuke Owolabi, made the call at a press conference in Lagos.
He urged technocrats to support APC presidential candidate Senator Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s re-election due to his record of empowering professionals.
Owolabi, a professional engineer, called on all professionals, elites and intellectuals “to come out and join this race; do everything possible to win together.”
“We are first and foremost women, but then we have an advantage. We have been prepared; we have been refined; we have paid our dues in our different fields of activity; and for this reason we are rightly called professional women.
“The task ahead of us is great and important. It is up to us to make a difference and steer our nation’s ship in the right direction.
“As enormous as it may seem, our task is simple. All we need to do is participate, intentionally get involved,” Owolabi said.
According to her, for a long time the elites of the nation, the professionals, the intellectuals, have not been as involved as they should be when it comes to politics and the electoral process.
He added: “This time we are not only going to make our voices heard, we are going to leverage ourselves in our areas of influence to convince people and get them to also participate and be part of this process.
“However, we have gone too far as a nation to start over or even make costlier mistakes.
“We not only encourage our people to participate, we will encourage them to choose well because if we miss this opportunity before us, it may take many years to get another one. That is if we ever do.
Stressing the need to support Tinubu, Owolabi described the APC candidate as a builder.
She said: “He has built great leaders; he has built bridges across the country; he played an important role in building Lagos and making Lagos what it is today, the envy of other states.
“We’ve pretty much seen what he’s done and what he can do.
“Let’s all be part of a positive story by bringing our expertise and experiences to support this great man who has volunteered to give us renewed hope as a nation.
“Today, as professionals in different fields, we are using this medium to encourage professionals alike, not to sit on the fence, we encourage them to be a part of this process and together we make Nigeria great.”
Owolabi called on the technocrats to also re-elect Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his right-hand man Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, urging the technocrats to collect their permanent voter cards (PVCs) before the INEC deadline.
She said: “If artisans and merchants are in charge of sourcing their PVCs, how much more an elite?”
Owolabi said that anyone who did not vote in the next election had no right to complain.
He said that the management would be the voice of the professionals and would launch a door-to-door campaign to different farms in the three senatorial districts, raising awareness about PVC collection.
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
“Let’s all vote as if our rights depended on it, since our vote is our voice as professionals.
“The ignorance of a voter in a democracy harms the security of all. Our lives begin to end the day we keep silent about the things that are important to our great nation,” Owolabi said.
The event was attended by directors in management and management and members of many professional groups. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Adeleye Ajayi
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