The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Pauline Tallen

  • Nigeria yet to accord women enough opportunities in politics, says Tallen

    A former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Pauline Tallen, has said Nigeria, unlike other African countries, was yet to accord women enough space in the political arena.
    Mrs. Tallen, who is currently a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, said women participation in politics was yet to take centre stage in the country.
    She spoke with reporters at the launch of Showcasing Her Abilities in Political Engagements (SHAPE), a compendium book chronicling the lives of 20 successful Nigerian women in politics that was authored by Youngstars Development Initiative with support from UNWomen, in Abuja.
    According to her, Nigeria cannot progress as it currently is without encouraging women to participate in politics.
    She said: “Nigeria cannot move forward the way we are going right now. Women participation in politics has to take the center stage. Whether we like it or not women have a critical role to play in nation building.
    “We are not fighting the men, we are not competing with the men, we are partners in progress. The world over have acknowledged the vital roles women should play in nation building. In the whole of the continent we are known to be the giant of Africa, but as regards politics we are the least. Most of the African countries have gone.”

    Read Also: High society rallies round Pauline Tallen

    Tallen said it was shameful that some women has turned themselves into praise singers of politicians.
    This, she explained, meant that some women do not get to the peak of their political careers.
    She said: “Women should stop being praise-singers and clapping hands for politicians and serving food. It’s not healthy and not the best for us.
    “As long as we allow ourselves to be used we will never get there. It is better for women to try and be in the mainstream of the campaign. If you are at the mainstream of the campaign you will be reckoned with. But if you hang around as praise singers, serving food and drinks, that is how you will remain.
    “I appeal to women to always be at the mainstream. Women should ensure that they attend most of the critical meetings. Also, women should always support women. I can see senators Rep members and members state houses of assembly members in the making.
    “It is unhealthy when we don’t see ourselves as threat to men we want a healthy environment where men and women can effectively participate in nation-building. By right as citizens of this country we have every right to participate. Women have prove their worth in various capacities. But the atmosphere of recent have not given the opportunity.
    “But when you start listening to stories of those that participated in the last primaries, they have never had it so bad. And it is unhealthy for the nation because Nigeria is flying on one wing.
    “A country with a population of capable women who can prove their worth anywhere. If you go to any international conference, Nigerian women stand out. But back home,  it is a sad story. In the midst of all these challenges, I still want to encourage women that all hope is not lost. We will see light at the end of the tunnel.
    “I appeal to women to remain strong and never give up. God is on how side as long as we refuse to give up.”
    In his remarks, Executive Director, Youngstars, Development Initiative, Kingsley Bangwell, said the book would encourage women to go into politics.
    Bangwell called on men to support the political aspirations of women rather than restrict them to certain positions.

  • World Peace Day: Aisha Buhari canvasses justice, equity

    The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has canvassed for a society where justice and equity reigns as the world marked 70th anniversary of UN Peace Day.

    She made the appeal on Friday in Abuja at the 2018 UN Peace Day celebration organised by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR).

    She was represented by a former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mrs Pauline Tallen.

    She described this year’s theme, “The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Right at 70’’, as apt in the light of the Sustainable Development Goal 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions.

    According to her, peace is only possible when there is equal access to justice.

    “’Peace is feasible only when we promote peace and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels,” she said.

    The UNESCO Regional Director, Ydo Yao, who represented the Director-General of UNESCO, Audray Azoulay, noted that peace would remain elusive as long as cases of human rights violations still persist.

    “There will be no peace on this planet as long as human rights are violated somewhere in the world.”

    Azoulay explained that on this International Day of Peace, the words of René Cassin, one of the architects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, remind us that “peace will remain an unattainable ideal as long as fundamental human rights are not respected’’.

    She said that respect for the fundamental human rights was a prerequisite for a peaceful society, in which everyone can fully enjoy equal and inalienable rights.

    “Peace is imperfect and fragile unless everyone benefits from it; human rights are either universal or they are not.

    “This intrinsic link between peace and respect for human rights is the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace, as this year we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    “The ideals of peace and universal rights are challenged and violated on a daily basis,” she said.

    The Royal Father of the Day, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman, the Emir of Bade, Yobe State, said there was need for a role for traditional institutions in enthroning lasting peace in the country.

    “I appeal to the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) and her partners to consider the role of the traditional rulers as consequential to the recovery of peace and sustainable rulers in the country on conflict resolution.

    “On daily basis we resolve many conflicts in our respective domains to ensure orderliness.

    “I therefore urge the Federal Government to provide IPCR funds for the training of royal father’s in mediation and conflict resolution.

    “We shall do our best as royal father’s to ensure peaceful coexistence among the people of the country,” he said.

    The Acting Director-General of IPCR, Dr Bakut Bakut, had earlier said the institute had in pursuance of peace in Nigeria and beyond, established National Peace Academy, with the hope to produce peace advocates throughout the country.

    Bakut said that the importance of peace in any given society could not be overemphasised, noting this underscored the fact that peace is necessary condition for any development to take place.

    He called on political leaders and their followers to pursue peace at all cost as the nation moved closer to 2019 elections.

  • Aisha Buhari arrives Katsina to inaugurate maternity clinic

    Aisha Buhari arrives Katsina to inaugurate maternity clinic

    The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on Tuesday arrived Katsina State to inaugurate children and maternity clinic at the General Hospital, Daura.

    The children and maternity clinic was built and equipped by Buhari through her NGO, “Aisha Buhari Foundation’’, which also catered for the health needs of under-privileged families in the country.

    The aircraft conveying the wife of the president and her entourage landed at the Katsina International Airport at about 10 a.m.

    She was accompanied by the wife of the Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki, Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehenire, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Administration), Dr Hajo Sani.

    Read also: Aisha Buhari provides free medical services for 3,000 patients in Zamfara

    Others are the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the former Deputy Governor of Plateau, Mrs Pauline Tallen, and wife of Benue Governor, Mrs Eunice Ortom, among others.

    The wife of the President was received at the airport by the Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Masari and some members of the National Assembly led by Senate leader, Sen. Ahmed Lawal.

    During the visit, the wife of the President is expected to inaugurate and hand over the facility to the Katsina State Government as part of her contributions to the health and physical well being of women and children in the state.

    NAN

  • High society rallies round Pauline Tallen

    If power and money divide politicians, partying and grieving unite them. So it has been with the outpouring of emotions for Pauline Tallen, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, on the death of her husband, Mr John Tallen, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83.

    Until his death, John was a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the same platform by which his wife served as a minister during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first term. She later became the deputy governor of Plateau State before she unsuccessfully used the platform of the Labour Party to contest the governorship seat against the then governor, Jonah Jang.

    Leading the women of class and substance in paying their condolences was the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, who paid a solidarity visit to the home of the Tallens. The first lady commiserated with the woman, urging her not to wallow in too much grief.

    Following the first lady’s example, the Tallens’ abode has become a Mecca of sorts to mostly female politicians who have been taking turns to console the bereaved woman.

  • Pauline Tallen becomes grandma

    There is nothing like a grandchild to put a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart. The feeling of being a grandmother is simply amazing; one moment, you are a woman, the next, you become automatically wise and prehistoric. Pauline Tallen, a former deputy governor of Plateau State, is getting used to this feeling and is basking in its glorious effects. One of her daughters that got married few years ago recently welcomed a set of triplets.

    The mother and bundles of joy are doing well. In addition to this, her only son, Adamu Richard, who tied the knot with the love of his life, the daughter of Igwe Nomeh, the king of Oruku Kingdom in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Princess Adaora Nomeh, last year, has also become a father. Pauline is one of the strongest female politicians in the country.