Paunpaulinous  Pauline

Dame Pauline Tallen is a woman that embodies the high and low moments. She is currently the Minister of Women Affairs, a position that has afforded her opportunity to define the future of women and girl-child in Nigeria. And she has done this creditably well within the given opportunity. She started out as an office clerk and so understands the languages and dialects of humility and grass to grace.  As a bundle of inspiration, she is your Woman of Fortune this week. With glee she says, make your week count with Paunpaulinous  gyration.

Dame Pauline Kedem Tallen OFR, is the current Minister of Women Affairs. Born 8 January 1959, she got a degree in Sociology at the University of Jos in 1982. Tallen is a native of Shendam, in Plateau State.

Tallen’s political career started in 1976, when she was a clerical officers at Shendam local government council, then later ministry of local government affairs. By 1994, she was made a Councilor in Plateau State. She was made commissioner in the state by the military government between 1994 and 1999.

In 1999, she was appointed Minister of State for Science and Technology to the cabinet of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2007, she became the Deputy Governor of Plateau State and the first woman to be a Deputy Governor in Northern Nigeria. She also contested to be governor of the state in 2011, but lost to Jonah Jang. She is presently a member, board of trustee of All Progressives Congress, and was honored as woman of the year for her contribution to Nigeria at the 10th African  Icon of Our Generation Award. She is a board member of National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA).

Before the 2015 general elections, she decamped from PDP to APC, a move she believed angered some people in her state. However, she described the move as a calling from God, with no regrets. In 2015, she rejected an ambassadorial nomination by the President Buhari, citing federal character and zoning in her state as reasons.

She was married to John Tallen, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party who died in 2017. She has five children.

We present to you Dame Pauline Tallen as a member of MMS Woman of Fortune Hall of Fame, Class of 2022.