No doubt, in Nigeria today, Women inclusion in governance has been poorly managed as we witness successive governments lending their deep croaky voices to female participation in governance, yet lacking the self-will to see it through.
However, in a few cases, each Government tends to appoint strong women in key roles such as the “Women Affairs Portfolio.
In Buhari’s administration, no better candidate could have worn such shoes than Dame Pauline Tallen, who clearly has her job cut out for her as she has improved the women’s businesses, social inclusion and their political fortunes.
Though, available data show that the most women-inclusive government since 1999 was that of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He had a cabinet of 27 Ministers out of whom 8 (or 29%) were women, who held key positions in some of the most strategic ministries in the country, including Finance.
But then, when we speak of a Nigerian Woman, who has whole-heartedly fought the battel against rape and has been an ardent advocate of Women-rights, the Women Affairs Minister, Pauline Tallen, is a go-to person in this regard. She was also a member of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s cabinet, where she was the Minister of State for Science and Technology.
Recently she was heard advocating death sentence for rape and related offences. A show of passion and penchant for the total eradication of such vice in our society.
The minister has also been a major advocate for stiff penalties for child-labour offences and other dehumanising treatments against children.
You may say Tallen is a round peg in a round hole. She has taken her advocacy to many parts of the country, while she also stresses that it was time for religious and other opinion leaders to join the vanguard to demand hash penalties against all forms of gender-based violence.
You would mostly hear her say, without fear, “Rapists deserve death penalty”.
Under her purview, the Federal Government introduced the national cooking gas project as part of measures aimed at conserving the environment, distributing 21,000 5kg gas cylinders to women and various beneficiaries.
Born in the Northern part of Nigeria, in the late 50’s, Pauline Kedem Tellen OFR was appointed in 2019 by President Muhammad Buhari as the Minister of Women Affairs. A position she has held with dignity, without an iota of stain to the legacies she has built over the years.
Her name rang bell in 2015 after she turned down a nomination on the grounds that she was not consulted prior to the announcement of the appointment and that she would not accept the offer for equal distribution of power among the three senatorial districts of her native state of Plateau. She also revealed then that she is from the same local government as Governor Simon Lalong. Unbelievable, you would say!
Her voyage in the Political scene in Nigeria dates back to 1976, when she was the clerical officer at Shendam local government council, then later ministry of local government affairs. By 1994, she was made a councillor in Plateau State. She was made commissioner in the state by the military government between 1994 and 1999. In 1999, when she was appointed Minister of State for science and technology to the cabinet of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
In 2007, she became the Deputy Governor of Plateau State and the first woman to be a Deputy Governor in Northern Nigeria. She also contested to be Governor of the state in 2011, but lost to Jonah Jang.
Tallen is a member, board of trustees of All Progressive Congress, and was honoured as woman of the year for her contribution to Nigeria at the 10th African Icon of Our Generation Award. She is a board member of National Agency for Control of Aids(NACA).
A graduate of University of Jos, where she bagged a Degree in Sociology, Tallen, like many other politicians has criss-crossed many parties, joining Labour Party (Nigeria), under whose umbrella she contested in the 2011 gubernatorial election of the state. Before the 2015 general elections, she decamped from PDP to APC.
In 2015, she rejected an ambassadorial nomination by President Buhari, citing federal character and zoning in her state as reasons. In an interview with a leading tabloid in Nigeria, she explained that as deputy governor she contested against the governor for the betterment of the state and because the governor didn’t have the interest of the people at heart. She also stated that the victory of President Buhari at the 2015 general elections was divinely orchestrated.
As the Minister for Women Affairs, Tallen is one of the few Appointees who call out the media on issues pertaining to their purview. She once urged them to pay more attention to cultural and patriarch problems that have impeded the efforts to liberate Nigerian women from the challenges that have held them down and adversely affected the general development of the country.
Dr. Pauline Tallen is fully committed to nation building and is totally loyal to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A privileged Northerner, we must say, she has served our dear country as an ambassador of change, with so many landmarks as a Councillor, Minister of State, Deputy Governor of Plateau State and currently, the Minister of Women Affairs.
She believes the coronavirus pandemic has had a more negative impact on women in Nigeria, especially for women who dominate the informal business sector.
Tallen has also been on the fore-front in the war against marginalisation of women in National issues. Pauline Tallen believes women have been marginalised and have not been consulted in the processes of National issues.
As an advocate for women, she believes that women’s views must be included in the Constitution for it to be representative of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A tough woman, who does not spare the rod to spoil her children, she is blessed with five children, who are making their marks in their endeavours as well.
