Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim
By Abdullahi Abubakar
Aggrieved members of staff of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs on Wednesday, locked out the Minister overseeing the ministry, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, from gaining access to her office over what they described as “prolonged neglect, arrogance, and waste”.
The angry staff who came out in their in large numbers blocked the entrance gates of the ministry headquarters situated in the Central Business District of Abuja.
The Staff members who carried placards with various inscriptions, chanted different solidarity songs and outrightly demanded her sack.
The different placards decried poor welfare, unpaid allowances, and the growing disconnect between the minister and her workforce.
They said their resort to protest was the last option left to them after months of failed attempts to get the minister to address numerous issues bedevilling the operations of the ministry failed.
The aggrieved staff noted that since the appointment and deployment of Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim to the ministry in October 2024 as minister, she does not believe that staff members exit in the ministry, thus has never held a meeting with either staff or unions despite repeated requests.
One of the workers who craved for anonimity during the protest said; “We all gathered with the Permanent Secretary and directors for the meeting she finally scheduled today. We waited for four hours because she was returning from a trip. When she arrived, she ignored us completely, walked into her office, and never came back. That was the last straw.”
This was as Union leaders in the ministry accused the minister of prioritising her personal pursuits with a bloated retinue of aides at the expense of staff welfare.
Workers at Federal Ministry of Women Affairs protesting
One of the Union leaders, Alake Success said; “There are no working tools, no training, no welfare. We buy stationery ourselves, and even clean the toilets with our own money. “Yet, the minister has over 25 aides feeding on the ministry’s overheads. This is against the spirit of lean government that President Bola Tinubu promised,” he said.
Success further said that the situation under the previous minister, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, was “far better,” emphasising that Mrs. Sulaiman-Ibrahim has shown little interest in the plight of workers and has no regard for any one.
The angry workers vowed that they would continue their protest until the minister is removed or redeployed, stressing that her style of leadership is incompatible with the ministry’s core mandate of advancing the welfare of women in Nigeria.
Efforts by NATIONAL WAVES to speak to Mrs. Sulaiman-Ibrahim were fruitless as calls to her line were not answered, and she has yet to respond to a message sent to her on the matter.
