An advocacy group led by Women Aid Collective (WACOL), has protested the gender imbalance in the appointment of development centre administrators in Enugu State.
The women group led by its Founder, Prof. Joy Ezeilo which paid an advocacy visit to Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on Friday night demanded better representation of women in the governance of the state.
The leader of the group expressed dismay that only one woman made the list and described it as unfair treatment to women, adding that women need greater representation in elective and appointive positions in the state.
She, however, appealed to the governor to address the imbalance for the sake of equity and justice.
On the rising wave of crime in parts of the state, Ezeilo condemned the menace and urged security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.
Responding, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, said that the appointment of 67 males out of 68 development centre administrators was due to security concerns in the state.
Ugwuanyi explained that the spate of crime in parts of the state necessitated the appointment of 67 male administrators.
The governor said that the appointees would complement the efforts of neighbourhood watch groups in the state to contain the rising wave of crime in their areas.
According to him, the state has been under serious attack by bandits and there is no way a woman can do that.
The Governor promised to address the imbalance by appointing some women as vice-chairpersons of the development centres.
The governor said that his administration had been gender friendly in elective and appointive positions in the state.
“We have three female lawmakers who are principal officers in the state House of Assembly. We have more female judges than males.
“We have a woman as deputy governor; a woman as Chief Judge of the state and another as the Auditor General of the state,” he said
It could be recalled that the state government recently announced the appointment of 68 development centre administrators out of which 67 were men.
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