Profile of Chief Kemi Nelson
Chief (Mrs)
Kemi Nelson is the APC South West Zonal woman leader. Born February 9, 1956 to the illustrious Tinubu-Meredith/Laja families, Kemi Nelson, is the former Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Job Creation had her primary school at Anglican Girls Primary School Surulere, and Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu Ode. She taught briefly at Corona School Apapa before enrolling for Nursing and Midwifery courses at the University College Hospital Ibadan.
Nelson began her political career during President Ibrahim Babangida-led military regime in the late 1980s and early 90s when she joined the National Republican Convention (NRC), one of the two parties founded and funded by government. At the time, there were not too many female politicians in politics. She became exposed to party politics as she was saddled with big assignments including the chairmanship of NRC’s electoral committee for the party’s presidential primaries in Osun State. At different times, Nelson was Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Job Creation, Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, during the administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as governor of Lagos State.
She was the Party’s Lagos West Senatorial Candidate 1992, Chairman, Republican Electrical Panel (RECA) in Osun State, member, National Ways and Means Committee and the National Finance Committee of NRC and a national delegate to the party’s convention in Port Harcourt 1993.
She is presently the South West Zonal woman leader, of All Progressive Congress (APC).Her advice for women going into politics; If indeed you want to serve your people, you have to belong. Do not let anyone scare you. You can be in politics without contesting. You have to belong to a party and you have to work with your party at all level. Again, I tell people that its not all politicians that are bad. People just paint this picture that politicians are bad, it’s not true. When you move close to politicians, you will love politics. The good thing about it is that you meet a lot of people along the line, people that normally you will never have come across. More women should come into politics.
For all her efforts, she has been honoured with several awards including the Distinguished Florence Nightingale Fellow (DFNF) award, Order of Merit by Rotaract Club, Award for Excellence by the National Union of Lagos State Students (NULASS) among others.