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 markets and communities. To strip them of this and replace it with a central authority controlled from outside is to rob them of their agency.

Even if there were a genuine need for central coordination, such a structure should come from the women themselves, debated, owned, and directed by Edo women. Anything less is paternalism. Anything less is political capture. What direct stake does Tinubu’s daughter have in Edo’s markets? How does her installation of an 'Iyeki-General' empower the ordinary woman who wakes before dawn to trade at Oba Market, Ekiosa, or Uselu? This is not representation. This is an occupation.

The political motive has not even been hidden. During the installation of Pastor Mrs. Josephine Isi Ibhaguezejele, the so-called "Iyeki-elect” or Market Women Leader for Edo State, Tinubu’s daughter openly declared that the women in Edo State would be used as the tool to deliver 60 percent of the 2.5 million votes for President Tinubu in Edo. There it is, in plain language. This is not about empowering women. This is about turning them into a voting machine, an appendage of partisan politics.

Meanwhile, Edo market women are struggling more than ever. The economic hardship foisted on Nigerians under President Tinubu’s policies, rising inflation, skyrocketing food prices, and the relentless cost of goods, has made survival in the markets a daily battle. These women are barely keeping their heads above water, and yet they are being asked to become tools for political gain. How can anyone talk about leadership or representation when these women cannot even meet their families’ basic needs?

History teaches us that 

women in this land have never been silent victims. The  wisdom and courage of the formidable Queen Idia of Benin, safeguarded the Benin kingdom. Edo women today stand in that same tradition. They deserve respect, not subjugation.

This fight is bigger than markets. It is about power, autonomy, and cultural pride. Edo people must resist this creeping intrusion. We do not need Lagos to dictate how our markets should be run. We do not need a political 

'godmother' imposed from Abuja or Lagos. Edo women deserve to govern their own affairs, free from manipulation. Our markets are not for sale, and our women are not pawns in a political chess game.

To all those who spoke out against the absurdity perpetuated by Tinubu's daughter and some Edo women, with the complicity of the Edo State Government, in the coronation and inauguration of an Iyaloja in Edo State, we thank you! You have shown clearly that we are not a defeated people and that we will not allow strangers to mock us and our traditions.

To those who were audibly quiet, especially the Benin men among you, we thank you too, for showing that silence speaks volumes. It is now obvious that some voices hold little worth and negligible influence, now and in the future.

Edo people will move past this embarrassment and ascend above this ridicule,  but we will never forget. Our markets, our women, and our traditions are ours to defend.

_Osarumwense, a social media influencer, resides in Benin City