ON Wednesday, October 23, President Bola Tinubu dismissed five ministers from his cabinet.

Topping the list was the minister of women’s affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye.

Kennedy-Ohanenye, a lawyer and politician, was among the 45 ministers Tinubu swore into office in August 2023.

Notably, she was the only All Progressive Congress (APC) female presidential candidate during the party’s primaries in the last general elections. She later stepped down for Tinubu.

In this report, The ICIR outlines some major backlashes she faced in office.

Advocacy for child labour, reduction in school hours

In September 2023, while addressing participants at the 2023 Anambra Investment Summit, Kennedy Ohanenye said that Fridays should be free for schoolchildren to engage in production sctivities and support urban development.

She said they could use such days to work in factories producing items like matches and sanitary pads.

According to her, Fridays should be excluded to enable children to get involved in production activities to boost urban development

“I am pleading for us to look into more production of some of these things in our society. Especially the necessities like the matchbox, the toothpick, the cotton buds, the sanitary pads and stuff like that. Let us introduce urban development in the schools.

“If we can think about using Fridays as free, for our children to start producing things just like they do in China … In China, even young kids get involved in production,” she said.

However, her suggestion wa widely condemned by Nigerians on various social media platforms. They described it as advocacy for child labour.

Accused the United Nations of mismanaging funds meant for Nigeria

Kennedy-Ohanenye accused the United Nations of collecting money on Nigeria’s behalf and failing to account for it.

Threatening to take legal action against the UN, she asked the global body to furnish her ministry with the necessary records on or before November 15, 2023.

“I stand here as the minister of women’s affairs to demand from the UN, the account of all the monies they sourced from donors in Nigeria’s name. We want to see the account of what they did,” she said.

“If you don’t give us this account, at least Nigerians see what is going on. Then you (UN) apologise to them. From the 16th of October to November 15, if we don’t get those reports for Nigerians to see, we are heading to court. [They have] from 16th October to November 8.

“They will get our pre-action letter. That is to prepare that by the 15th, we are heading to court, and I am promising Nigerians that by the 15th you will hear the lawsuit number,” she vowed.

 Threatened lawsuit over Niger mass wedding

The former minister controversially reversed her decision on a mass wedding involving 100 ‘orphans’ in Niger State, despite initially filing a lawsuit to halt the marriage.

The Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, had pledged to pay the bride price for all the persons involved and had put requisite logistics in place for the wedding.

Initially, Kennedy-Ohanenye took a firm stance against the plan, describing the marriage as a violation of the Child Rights Act. She said the would-be brides were children whose future must be protected by the government.

“These children must be considered, their future must be considered, the future of the children to come out of their marriage must be considered. So I have gone to court. I have written him a letter and written a petition to the IG Inspector-General) of Police,” she said.

In a turn of events, she announced her partnership and support the girls.

“I did not intend to stop the marriage but to ensure the girls are of marriageable age and were not being forced into it,” she said.

Threatened UNICAL sexual harassment witnesses

In a leaked telephone conversation that went viral, Kennedy-Ohanenye threatened some female students who had testified about alleged sexual harassment by a suspended a professor at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Cyril Ndifon.

She eventually apologised for threatening the female students.

The university suspended Ndifon after female law students protested, alleging that he had subjected them to sexual harassment and assault.

Accused World Bank Staff of taking 40% of Nigeria’s loans

Kennedy-Ohanenye  accused the World Bank staff in Nigeria of pocketing 40 per cent of the loans given to Nigeria as consultation fees, while government officials who signed those loans allegedly got five per cent of the funds.

Reacting, the World Bank denied the allegation while responding to The ICIR’s queries on the issue.

The Bank emphasised that all projects it funded were implemented by recipient governments and were governed by strict policies designed to prevent the misuse of funds.

The Bank also noted that it worked closely with borrowers to manage procurement processes, ensuring that funds are used transparently and efficiently.

Disrupted events in Abuja

On August 8, 2024, Kennedy-Ohanenye disrupted an event tagged, “Unveiling the Power of Women and Food Security” in Abuja.

According to her, the event was held without her ministry’s approval.

She noted that the organiser had been taken into custody by the operatives of the State Security Services (DSS) for impersonating the ministry.

“There is an impersonation going on here. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs did not plan this. The lady, I have arrested her. Right now, she is with the Department of State Service (DSS).

“After we wrote that we were cancelling, the President approved that we should cancel until further notice. She still went ahead to print this thing,” she said.

Weeks later, she disrupted another event in Abuja, claiming that it was organised without her consent and lacked a people-centred purpose.