Sonaiya believes she will come victorious in the party’s primary election despite the fact that four other people have shown interest in contesting.
“Yes, I am coming out. I am planning to run as one of the aspirants in KOWA Party. Four other people have indicated their interest in the ticket, so let’s see what happens after our primary,” she replied when asked if she was planning to contest next year.
“My message to women is that the time to stand is now; the reason is that we have short-changed ourselves as a nation. We cannot have a developed nation without women’s involvement. We have the skills and abilities to prepare for leadership.
“By leaving the leadership position to men alone, we have denied ourselves our rights. I really hope that women will be determined and stand, in not just talking about the situation of things, but assuming responsibilities. We should not be begged to take charge.”
Remi Sonaiya was born on March 2nd, 1955. She began her schooling in 1961 at St. Luke’s Demonstration School, Ibadan, from where she proceeded to St. Anne’s School, also in Ibadan, for her secondary education.
She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1977, graduating with the best result in her faculty, did her Youth Service at the Nigeria Military School, Zaria, got married, and proceeded to Cornell University, USA, from where she obtained an M. A. in French Literature.
Back in Nigeria, she enrolled for another Masters degree program, this time in Linguistics, which she obtained in 1984, and immediately returned to Cornell University for her PhD studies in Linguistics. She graduated from Cornell in 1988 and returned to continue lecturing in the Department of Foreign Languages of the Obafemi Awolowo University which she had joined in 1982 as an Assistant Lecturer. She became a professor of French Language and Applied Linguistics in 2001.
