2027: The Amazons have arrived

Over the years, with intelligence, reliability, focus and uprightness, Nigerian women have made achievements written in gold, in various sectors and professions. The incontestable achievements in politics and public sector governance by the likes of late Prof Dora Akunyili, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and late Professor Grace Alele-Williams, among many others is the one the primary reasons for the push to secure dedicated seats in the National and State legislatures for women.

Clearly, Nigerian women, forged in the mould of Margaret Ekpo, Gambo Suwaba, Mrs Ransome-Kuti (mother of the legendary Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti), have shown that the nation’s female can no longer be sidelined. They have emerged as champions in various fields, breaking the glass ceiling academia, arts, aviation, banking and finance, law, judiciary. They have become corporate titans and deep pocket investors. Women have soared like the eagle. A woman became a president in an African country. Several of them contest elections in foreign countries and beat their contestants.

It is heartwarming to note that some corporate organizations have keyed into the fact that women remain the benchmark. Therefore, men who still think that women’s place is in the kitchen and bedroom should know that power has changed hands.

In the banking sector, women now lead as chief executives of their organisations. Among them are: Dame Adaora Umeoji. Group Managing Director (GMD) of Zenith bank; Mrs. Miriam Olusanya (Guaranty Trust Bank); Mrs. Nneka Onyali-Ikpe(Fidelity Bank), Mrs. Yemisi Edun (First City Monument Bank), Mrs. Ireti Samuel-Ogbu (Citibank), Mrs. Halima Buba (SunTrust Bank) and Mrs. Tomi Somefun (Unity Bank). 

Apart from the frontline professional ladies that have been chosen, there are others who are close to their positions too. Let us not forget the power horses behind the boards of banks like Osaretin Demuren, former Chairman at Guaranty Trust Bank, Ibukun Awosika, Chairperson, Board of Directors, First Bank of Nigeria and one of the mostly recognized female leaders in the Nigeria banking sector and several others.

In the same vein, the same paradigm shift is being seen in universities.  A good number of women have followed the footsteps of Prof. Mrs. Grace Alele-Williams. History was made in University of Lagos when Prof. Mrs. Folashade Ogunsola emerged as the first ever female vice chancellor of the institution 63 years after it was established. Just like Ogunshola, other women emerged as VCs of various universities both private and public. I remember with nostalgia Prof. Sidi Osho who was the first female vice chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State. Today, at the meetings of Vice Chancellors in Abuja, women’s voices are now heard.

It has also shown that there is hope for a greater country. Sooner than we know it a woman will become the President of the country just as it happened in Liberia in 2005.

Without question, not all women are saints, but largely women tend to be more influenced by conscience than men, and that is why they tend to serve as gatekeepers for propriety in public, political and corporate governance spaces. Women strive not to stain their names.

Today, even as gender diversity in workplaces continues to push for better representation, women for years remained in the background in running top businesses in key sectors of the economy including the political gladiators and policy makers in most organizations. But currently, history has dismantled such a trend. How happy the women are with the gender gap being bridged with remarkable improvement.

The women have not only been pivotal in the shaping of various sectors, regulatory framework and society, but have also created a strong legacy for other women to follow.

It is also an opportunity to reaffirm that progress is not achieved through the genitals but the brain. It will be important to state categorically that every organization should draw from the banking and aviation industries, which are now extensively utilising the potential of women.

The words of Professor Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisikka, the first female Professor of Mass Communication, University of Lagos are germane here: “If a holistic development must be achieved, one side therefore should not be side-lined. Rwanda for instance made an attempt and included women in their parliament in different spheres on human endeavour. Today, Rwanda is a destination in Africa.”

The moment Mrs. Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, won the presidential race to serve her country as the 24th, but first female president of Liberia, she changed the four key ministerial positions, Finance, Education, Health, Commerce and Industry to be manned by women and the economy of the country picked up almost immediately. The reason is simple. Women by nature nurture because every burden falls on them. In the same natural nurture, they want everything to work and when it works, they are fulfilled.

Rightly speaking, feminism is not competing with men on wrong issues, no; it is proving that women are no less in their capabilities.

With 2027 around the corner, women should be given the chance to prove they are capable. If Liberia did it and succeeded, why can’t Nigeria not join the moving train? Have they not seen the qualities of a few women who climbed the ladders and the result produced? I strongly believe in women like a lot of other individuals. I believe in the superwomen who would turn things around for the better and for the younger generation. One thing that gladdens the heart in this wakeup call is the fact that irresponsible sexual harassment, manipulation, exploitation and dishonesty would be a thing of the past. The reason is because women are aggressively united when it comes to such. No woman would be employed because of what is on her chest or the buttocks, but what she can bring to the table.

I am an advocate of having responsible women in high places and in charge. I am also an advocate of women in politics and government from the highest office of a president to the lowest office. In 2027, men should give women a chance. These women have arrived with power, process and procedure.