Among the many firsts she has achieved in life was becoming the first female Secretary of the Bonny Local Government Council where she served two consecutive dispensations and exuded extraordinary excellence thus validating the decision to appoint her into that office. For Helen Jack-Wilson Pepple, daughter of one of the then few strong hands in the Nigeria Railway Corporation headquarters, Lagos, late Elder Tamunolanyeofori Hillary Jack-Wilson Pepple, and granddaughter of a former Chief and Head of Jack-Wilson Pepple House of Grand Bonny Kingdom, late Chief Justin Ikpereki-Tamunopiri Jack-Wilson Pepple, it has been a lifetime passion to pursue the actualization of the interest of the womenfolk, be it politically, socio-economically, and otherwise.

Many, therefore, were not surprised to learn of her emergence as the Leader of the women of Bonny Kingdom, a decision taken by a representative group of women drawn from the 35 chieftaincy houses of Bonny Kingdom during a meeting with the Amanyanabo and Natural Ruler of Bonny Kingdom, His Majesty, King Edward Pepple III, CON, Perekule XI, at his palace in Bonny on Friday, December 27, 2019. She will be leading nine other women, which includes a former Minister of Housing, Lands and Urban Development, Amal Inyingiala Pepple, CFR, among others, to steer the affairs of women in Bonny Kingdom in the coming days.

As if not enough, a day after this elevation, she was gloriously conferred with the highest feminine traditional title of the Ibani Nation, Amaopu-Orubo, which incidentally, makes her the first woman to hold this title in the Jack-Wilson Pepple Major House of ancient Grand Bonny Kingdom.  

Kristina Reports Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Godswill Jumbo met up with her at home in Abalamabie Community in Bonny LGA where she x-rayed the issues affecting the progress of women in Bonny, the possibilities inherent in the new vista created with the new leadership, and what the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Nigeria LNG Train 7 Project, taken same day of her emergence, means for the Bonny woman, among other issues. Enjoy the excerpts:

It is obviously a big one for Bonny that you emerged as the leader of Bonny women. How do you feel about it and what does your emergence mean for the Bonny woman?

Thank you very much. I think that every community has a leader. And in our own community, Bonny Kingdom, we have the Amanyanabo, as our father. So, this is part of his vision. As you know, we have a youth forum, the Bonny Youth Assembly that takes care of the affairs of the teeming youths. We have the Titled Citizens’ Assembly, which looks into the affairs of the kingdom, renders experiential and technocratic counsel where and when necessary. But for the womenfolk there has been a lacuna. Prior to this time, the women had a group but we know there are pockets of issues here and there. For this reason, His Majesty deemed it appropriate that the women should have a well constituted representative body that will advance the yearnings and aspirations of the women of the kingdom; that we must forge ahead irrespective of the seeming challenges. Challenges are bound to come our way but we cannot allow them to consume us. So, Bonny women are expected to work as one to move the kingdom forward. We believe that this time around with this new team, we will move Bonny forward and Bonny will move to greater heights. Particularly, you know the implication of this; when the women are progressing it will have a multiplier effect on our children, our youths, our fathers, and the society at large. The family is an integral part of the society, anything good that affects it rubs off on the society.  

Now, when we look at the list of those that comprised the executive, we see that across board, across political divides, across families, every aspect of Bonny is represented. What do you think the King was trying to say with these?

The King was trying to say that this is not a political organization. The exco must cut across board because for him we have one Pepple, we have one Jumbo, and the whole kingdom is one family. And nobody was handpicked. A name is called or nominated and the women will say if they concur or not. If they don’t you can hear it from the disapproving voices. And at the end of the day we have what we have now. We give God the glory. Thank God for the wisdom of the King.

So, what should Bonny women do about this? Where do they come in?

Let me inform you that we now have full representation of Bonny women in the exco. We are going to meet and this will trickle down to the various houses. In the coming days, after due consultations with the women, our blueprint will be out. In this new era, we want to position ourselves, we want to take our place in destiny. Gone are the days when women are subjected to the kitchen or the other room. We want our voice to be heard, we want to have good representation within and outside the Kingdom.

The Final Investment Decision (FID) of the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project was taken by shareholders of the company. How do you feel about this? 

I feel so happy. Fortunately, I am a member of the committee set up by the Amanyanabo-in-Council; that is the Bonny Kingdom Local Content Compliance Committee, to interface with NLNG and other stakeholders as regards the train 7 project. The Bonny business community has made its point that where they don’t have capacity they are ready to partner. Bonny Kingdom provides the enabling environment and the business community leverages on it to their advantage. The various partnerships that arises in the course of the foregoing will now engender the inflow of technical knowhow, diverse resources and expertise required to keep the investments thriving. Obviously, there are going to be openings in the world of work and business, thereby giving advantage to our women who are ready to be engaged or who want to invest. So, our women will take advantage of that. All hands are on deck. The kingdom is not relaxing, the women too are going to participate.

What should the women expect? The coincidence is just beautiful – you are emerging the leader of Bonny women and then the FID is being taken the same day.  

That will show you that good things await Bonny people, especially, our women. It is when you know there is an opening somewhere that is when you apply, isn’t it? And we just can’t be docile. We can’t be at the background and not knowing what is happening, not knowing what is due us. We are going to synergize with other bodies such as the Bonny Integrated Recruitment Centre (BIRC), well-meaning NGOs, and others, and we will now work as a team and Bonny will take her place in the scheme of things.