Ahead of the 2023 Presidential election, a renowned entrepreneur and youth development advocate, Mrs Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi, has thrown her hat in the ring for the Presidential seat.
Okunnu-Lamidi becomes the first female to declare her interest in running for the office of President with a promise to restore hope for a better Nigeria.
At a media briefing in Lagos to officially unveil her plans for the presidency come 2023, Okunnu-Lamidi explained that she intended to come on to the political platform to change the narrative by ensuring holistic exploration of potentials embedded in the teeming youths. Also, to leverage the bourgeoning population to create more job opportunities across all the sectors.
She further stressed that her motivation in vying for the posting stems from her desire to make Nigeria work for its diverse populace while noting that 2023 is a defining moment. She intends to play a lead role in writing a new history.
“I do not come to this lightly or out of vanity or frivolity. I come to this with humility and responsibility and with the burden of a generation to whom the future of Nigeria belongs.
“Nigerians of our generation believe in the promise of an equitable and just political union which consolidates the diverse strengths of our people and which harnesses the vast untapped resources of our great nation for the common good. Nigerians of our gender believe that we are heirs to the same promise and that our contribution to Nigeria’s character, stability, peace, and progress deserves recognition and reward.
“The challenge of the presidency is to make Nigeria work for all of its diverse peoples. It is the most powerful office in the land, but it is a place of service, and responsibility and duty and not a place of arrogance or show. Nigeria is not working for us,” she said
Tackling unemployment
The Presidential aspirant who harped on the need to cater for the unemployment challenges facing the country today revealed that youths under the age of 30, who represent about 70% of Nigeria’s population, are the worst hit by lousy governance, stressing her plans to identify those challenges and tackle them headlong.
Besides the problematic unemployment indices, she also mentioned the deficient school curricula, poor teacher orientation, and lack of focus on manufacturing as a result of overdependence on the oil sector, which must be addressed according to her.
Further, she disclosed that life expectancy at birth in Nigeria, which stood at 60.87 years in 2021, is one of the lowest in Africa and the world while noting that the infant mortality rate hovers at 57.701 deaths per 1000 live births.
According to her, “A president for all Nigerians must have integrity, competence, a 21st-century vision, energy, empathy and compassion for all our peoples and more so for the weak, the dispossessed and the disenfranchised.
“It is not a proud boast to say that a candidate has been steeped in the bloody, incompetent and corrupt experience which has brought our country to where it is today. My generation is part of our nation’s history but we are, not the ones who wrote it, in the blood of our youth and women and children.”
Taming poverty
In addition, she referenced the spiralling rate of poverty, which has seen an estimated 40.1 per cent of the Nigerian population currently living below the poverty line and the rising rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria. But, she reiterated hope for the country, especially with the emergence of a competent president in 2023.
Candidate’s profile
Born into a prominent Lagos family with a legacy of public service, Okunnu-Lamidi is the daughter of Lateef Femi Okunnu (SAN), a former Federal Commissioner of Works & Housing, current President, Isale-Eko descendants union and an elder statesman. At the same time, her mother, Arinola Omololu, is a businesswoman of Ago-Owu pedigree.
She holds a degree in Business Management (Hons) from the University of Bolton RAK Campus in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a Master’s degree in Strategic Project Management (SPM) from the prestigious Heriot-Watt University, Dubai. She has also been actively involved in several humanitarian initiatives and supports foundations in the formal and informal sectors that have long-lasting positive impacts on Nigeria’s political culture.
Intuitive ideas
Some of the initiatives she designed to tackle the urgent challenges of lack of clean water, youth unemployment and other social problems in Nigeria include; Water Relief, Help Our Youth (HOY), To Better Nigeria, Project: Bridge The Gap, Nigerian Heart Foundation and GW Alzheimer’s Foundation, among others.
About Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi
Khadijah is an outstanding youth development, gender balance and human capital advocate who is widely regarded as a leading woman in the Nigerian media and advertising space. She has made an indelible name for herself as a seasoned brands’ solution professional and an active social impact practitioner.
Khadijah is the Founder & CEO of Slice Media Solutions.
A member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), she is the first female to be featured as a cover story in an Out-Of-Home magazine in Nigeria. She has also been featured as one of the Top 50 Women in Marketing & Communication in Nigeria. Khadijah is a multi-award-winning brand consultant across various industries, from start-ups to superstar brands to niche businesses and non-profits.
She is known for her gender balance and youth development advocacy. She is the brain behind some social impact initiatives such as – Water Relief Nigeria, Help Our Youth (HOY), To Better Nigeria & Project: Bridge the Gap.
She is happily married with kids.
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