Africa’s foremost female sportscaster cum politician, Modele Sharafa-Yusuf has said everyone must be active in politics saying, ‘i’m active myself because we can’t leave the space for career politicians who have held us by the jugular for so long’.
Modele said this in a recent interview with ace broadcaster and media personality, Kikelomo Atanda-Owo on the ‘Interviewing The Interviewer’ series on her TV show.
Speaking on her transition from sportscasting to politics, she said, ‘I just wanted to contribute to the political scene. I stopped being an active journalist about 20 years ago and i’ve done alot of things in that 20 years span. I was the head of sponsorships for Globacom West Africa, I was director of Marketing for the American University for a few years, I’ve run my own businesses too, raised my children and now i have time and the inclination to do politics’.
She went on to add that her motivation to be actively involved in politics is ‘service and the fact that we can’t leave the space for the same career politicians who have held us by the jugular for so long, i’m not saying that they’re all bad, but if we all stay back and say politics is a dirty game, then the same set of people keep ruling and whatever they do impacts us all’.
In 2022, Modele Sarafa-Yusuf, declared her intention to run for the governorship ticket in Ogun State in a social media post that partly reads, ‘“Dear Friends, Today, I threw my hat into the ring and formally declared my intention to run for the office of Governor of Ogun State on the platform of our great party, the All Progressives Congress. I made the declaration at a small gathering of market women and men in the Adire/Kampala market, Asero, Abeokuta. I took the opportunity to listen to them as they talked about their needs and their expectations of the government. I look forward to engaging more with the people as the days go by even as I look forward to the opportunity of serving them as governor’.
Modele also spoke on the challenges that keep women away from politics saying, ‘its a very cash demanding and intensive venture and women are not always to able to raise as much money as men, and also its time consuming and for young women that have to worry about their kids and husband it can be quite demanding’.
Watch the full interview:
