I hope a woman succeeds Buhari in 2023 —UN chief

The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, on Tuesday expressed her desire for a woman to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

Mohammed, who featured on a television programme in Abuja, harped on the need for Nigerians to drop ethnic or political affiliation and unite to rebuild the country.

The ex-Minister of Environment had on Monday led a delegation of UN senior officials to meet President Buhari on strategies to rebuild Nigeria following the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the country.

She said: “We need to recognise what is not right, work towards making it happen and know that we can do this together. Individually and collectively we have responsibilities to make it happen. We all have something of value to offer.”

She said Nigeria has what it takes to provide the type of leadership that Africa wants by working towards the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

On the possibility of a woman succeeding Buhari in 2023, the UN official added: “That is my hope and I do not see that there isn’t a woman that cannot do that. I always believe that you should strive for that aspiration and don’t fail for want of trying.

“So, women should stand up. They have 50 percent of the votes and if they can convince the ‘hes’ for ‘shes’, the men who support women, then absolutely why not? There is no reason why a woman cannot lead Nigeria.”

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“Nigeria really needs someone, whether it is a man or a woman who looks at this country in its unity and its strength and really begins to talk about moving forward, realising those aspirations that we talk about.

“ I mean moving from the papers to the practical realities that can happen in our 774 local government areas, our 36 states, and the FCT. That is work to do and it is very possible under the leadership of a woman.”

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