Whose Interest Does the Centralisation of Edo Market Women Serve?
_By Osarumwense Precious Edos_ _When market women are declared instruments to deliver 60 percent of the none-existing 2.5 million votes, you know politics has crossed the line. Edo women are rising, and they will not be silenced._ The attempt to centralise the Edo market women association and place it under the direct control and influence of Chief (Dr.) Mujidat Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, the self-styled Iyaloja-General of Nigeria and first daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is not reform. It is an imposition. It raises a simple but fundamental question: whose interest does this centralisation serve, the women in the markets or the political elite desperate for control? Edo market women are not faceless pawns. They are the backbone of the Edo State economy, the custodians of culture, and the silent force that sustains families and communities. Their strength lies in their independence, in the way they have always organised their affairs organically, with accountability rooted in local...