Professor Owuliri Pays Tribute to Suu Kyi.

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(Hon Aung San Suu Kyi (Left) shake hands with Her Excellency Prof. (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri (Right))
(Hon Aung San Suu Kyi (Left) shake hands with Her Excellency Prof. (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri (Right))

April 29, 2013: Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri, participated in the 7th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Mongolia. She presented at the panel session titled “Strengthening women is strengthening the democracy”. At the confab, Her excellency Prof. Onwuliri, arguably one of the few and most revered intellectual powers in President Jonathan's administration caught up with Aung San Suu Kyi, arguably the world's most revered political prisoner after Nelson Mandela. Prof. Onwuliri paid tribute to Suu Kyi and held her up as the embodiment and substantiation of the role of women in the propagation of democracy and good governance. Prof. Onwuliri commented that the world would be a better and more peaceful place with more women in political leadership. She urged governments to be more inclusiveness of women in governance, as well as recognized the need for women to proactively participate in politics.

Aung San Suu Kyi, born June 19, 1945, is a Burmese opposition politician, member of parliament and chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma. She was detained under house arrest for leading the opposition to military dictatorship. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on November 13, 2010, becoming one of world's most prominent political prisoners.

Following her dogged pro-democracy and human rights fight s, Suu Kyi has received numerous international recognitions, including the Nobel Prize in 1991, the US Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2012, which together is the highest civilian honour in the United States. Suu Kyi, along with Nelson Mandela may be the most revered political figures alive.

Prof. Onwuliri commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his leadership in advancing women participation in governance in Nigeria and .globally exemplified by the unprecedented number of women in his cabinet and their strong representation at the conference..