Awoman of many parts, Hon. Jumoke Okoya Thomas is definitely one of the few respected women in Nigerian politics who so much believe in the protection of the interest of women in the society.
Okoya-Thomas, who is the first daughter of the iconic businessman , Sir. Omolade Okoya-Thomas, is the Woman Leader of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State.
Okoya-Thomas has served three successful terms at the House of Representatives and she believes that women must be disciplined to successful in politics.
“The first rung on the ladder of success for any woman is discipline. Even when all men are coming, how many men can a woman have anyway? A woman has to be disciplined in politics and separate pleasure from the business,” she said.
She also believes that women must learn to love one another to be successful in any thing they decide to do.
“Let us be natural and honest with ourselves, a lot of women don’t like making friends with one another. Let’s learn to love ourselves and build a relationship that would not allow the men to come between us,”
she explained.
Speaking about her involvement in politics, which people said was against her father’s wish, the Lagos APC woman leader said, though her father was against her involvement in politics, she was able to let him understand why she must take the
step.
“To him, the family name was important and had been built on a good reputation for decades; for any of his children to go into the murky water of politics, it could tarnish the name,” she said, adding, “But I told him that someone had to pave the way for others, especially women. In this vocation, we needed a voice and he agreed and I have enjoyed his support since my foray into politics and the family name has not been scandalised in any way.”
On her current roles as the Woman Leader in Lagos APC, she explained that her mission, saying “I will bring in a new generation of women in politics into Lagos APC and protect the interest of all the women in our great party, especially in the grassroots. I am glad that I took over the office of the Woman Leader of the APC at a time people are calling for more participation of women in politics.”
According to her, “My aim is to build on what my predecessors have achieved and make more women to actively engage in the political process of Lagos State by vigorously mobilising more women into the APC, especially the new generation of politically conscious women in the grassroots who are our backbone. I can assure you that women participation will be massive in this process and the party will continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.”
On the coming general elections, Okoya-Thomas maintained that she would not relent in her efforts of mobilising the women in the state to support the presidential candidate of the APC, President Muhammadu Buhari and its governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide
Sanwoolu.
“We the women in Lagos State are fully prepared for the 2019 general elections. I can assure you that I have been mobilising the women with my team to ensure victory for the APC across the board in the elections.
“Our women are fully ready for the elections and I can tell you that no stone would be left unturned to ensure victory for the APC both at the federal level and in the state in the forthcoming general elections,” she maintained.
Mrs. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas is a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Phoenix, USA. She also attended the Burleigh College, Manchester, United Kingdom and Alliance Francais, Paris for further
education.
She worked in the banking sector for 15 years and was a manager at the African International Bank. She left banking job for politics in 2001.
