Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters to former ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo,turned 70 on 18th February 2016. Speaking in an interview with The Nation on why she has remained unmarried after the death of her husband, Dele Giwa(in 1986), Ita-Giwa said, “I remained single because number one, I live by example. I have brought up children that as soon as they graduated from school, they got married and have their own children. If your environment is rough, when you change partners, then your children are likely to grow up rough and to change partners and as such I didn’t want to take a risk of changing partners.
“However, I am a human being, there is need for me to have a relationship but I decided that at one point I have to be sure, I don’t want to say that I didn’t see anybody that was worth it but I am still sifting through so that I don’t ever change partners. At this stage of my life, if ever there will be a partner, that partner would be my partner for life. Secondly, I live a very busy life and for most parts of my life in the last 10 years, I have done some very serious things that I didn’t need that distraction, I have to take care of my business, I have to take part in the growth of my business, my work, my service to humanity.
I did a lot of things that I was not sure that I could have found a man that will buy into that vision and again, there is the issue of men feeling intimidated by successful career women and there is no way i would have negotiated my career because I have children. Though, I do not intend to ever change my name which has become a brand but I am however not guaranteeing that i would remain single. I have amazing friends, and I am socially very busy as well but I have friends that respect me and do not take advantage of that friendship.
“I have very civilised male friends who do not want to take advantage, so if I want to go for dinner I have friends both Nigerian and non-Nigerians that will take me out, I have friends that will travel with me, we have very excellent and decent relationship. I am celebrating my 70th birthday because they helped me succeed as a single mother. They were there for me. However, I cannot guarantee that I would remain single for the rest of my life.”
