Former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili has said she is pleased with her argument with Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi during a Senate committee hearing. She believes the confrontation helped highlight the struggles women face in a society dominated by men.

Ezekwesili spoke about the incident on Channels Television on Wednesday, March 26. She shared her side of the story regarding the dramatic scene that happened at the Senate hearing on sexual harassment allegations.

The hearing focused on the case involving suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from Kogi Central and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

In her words

“In this society, there is a historic attitude to voice; not just the voice of women but those who say that they do not agree with a situation or who like me are persistent in demanding public accountability from those that lead an institution that belongs to the society.

It is a historic more or less function. And so, that attitude pervades the way our lawmakers are behaving. I was actually very pleased with what happened yesterday because now it is in the public domain what women endure in many instances, and the rest of society may know little about it but has not focused on it.”

The heated argument took place on Tuesday, March 25, in Abuja. Ezekwesili and Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, the lawyer representing Akpoti-Uduaghan, attended the session before the Senate committee.

However, as soon as the meeting started, a verbal clash broke out between Ezekwesili and Senator Nwebonyi from Ebonyi North. Their disagreement quickly escalated into loud arguments, name-calling, and gender-related insults.

Ezekwesili believes the incident shed light on how women are often treated unfairly in political spaces. Despite the tension, she remains satisfied with how the encounter exposed these issues.