Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in an interview with Channels Television, narrated her experience as a female senator. She stated that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, always says to her, speak like a man because we are all men in the Senate House. She added that at work she doesn’t focus on the fact that she is a woman, because at work she present competence and not feminity.
Speaking further in the video from 13:47, she stated that as women they have learned to raise their voices in the Senate House whenever they are not heard. She further stated that in Kogi State, some people said she fought like a man during the campaign.
According to her, “We’ve learned to raise our voices up; we raise our voices up when we are not heard. Senate President Akpabio always says, Senator Natasha, We are all men here, so speak like a man; there is no stopping the ground for you; you decided to be here, so you have to forge ahead like a man. When I speak, I like to focus on the context of what I say, and I don’t take into consideration that I am a woman, so I don’t present feminity at work; I present competence. I’m a woman and I’m a senator, and I was duly elected like everyone in the Senate, and I speak my ground. In Kogi State, they said, I even fought tougher than a man.”….Sée Móre