The Osun State Chapter of the Accord Party strongly condemns the reckless, misogynistic and demeaning comments credited to a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adebayo Adeleke, popularly known as Banik, in a video currently circulating in the public space.
In the said video, Mr Adebayo was heard openly making jest of women, urging his party members to use money to induce and “marry off” housewives, especially those associated with the Accord. Such statements are not only ridiculous and irresponsible, but also deeply insulting to the collective dignity of women in Osun State.
The Accord views this shameful outburst as a thoughtless attempt to reduce Osun women to objects of easy virtue, portraying them as commodities to be bought with money for the gratification of desperate and morally bankrupt political actors.This narrative is offensive, dangerous, and completely at variance with the values of decency, respect, and equality upheld by civilized societies.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the Accord in Osun State, Pastor Victor Babalola Akande described Mr Adebayo’s remarks as reckless, unbecoming, and symptomatic of a growing penchant for senseless utterances that has unfortunately become his trademark.
While Mr Banik may choose to conduct himself as an unserious adult in the political arena, he must be warned to keep the hardworking, industrious and Dignity personified women of Osun State out of his childish and thoughtless rhetoric.
To the Accord, Osun women are not political tools, sexual objects, or cheap commodities for inducement. They are traders, professionals, farmers, great entrepreneurs, caregivers, leaders, and nation builders who have distinguished themselves with industry, class, resilience, and honour across all spheres of human endeavour.
It is instructive to remind Mr Adebayo and his party that Nigeria is a signatory to several international instruments that protect the dignity of women, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), both of which affirm the inherent dignity, equality and worth of women and prohibit all forms of discrimination, stereotyping and degradation.
The Accord therefore calls on Mr Adebayo to offer an unreserved apology to the women of Osun State for his offensive remarks, and urges the leadership of the APC to publicly distance itself from such disgraceful views that demean women and embarrass the state.
Finally, the Accord implores the hardworking women of Osun State to take judicious note of this insult and respond appropriately by rejecting, resisting and politically punishing the APC and its representatives who hold them in such low esteem.
It must be stated that man speaks from the abundance of the heart, and therefore, Mr Banik and his party have only conveyed their secret agenda against the womenfolk who deserve respect always.
