Hilary Benn mistaken for a woman on Nigeria visit
International Development Secretary Hilary Benn has shrugged off a confusion over his gender during a visit to Nigeria.
On arriving in the south eastern Enugu state, the Minister was greeted by a banner welcoming “Hillary Ben MP – British Secretary of State for International Development: on her official visit”.
Mr Benn is in Nigeria to inspect projects established by the Commission for Africa.
Reporters accompanying Mr Benn have related that he laughed the incident off, noting that if he was the first man to hold the International Development portfolio for a while, he at least had a woman’s name.
Referring to Hillary Clinton, one Enugu resident told the BBC, ” The first Hillary we know is a woman, so we were thinking this minister will also be a woman.”
Mr Benn succeeded Baroness Amos as International Development Secretary in December 2003. Before Baroness Amos, Clare Short held the post from 1997.
Insofar as international development was subsumed in the responsibilities of the Foreign Office under the previous Conservative government, Mr Benn is indeed the first man to serve as International Development Secretary.
