By Wilson Adekumola
The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has recognized the vital roles women gave played in nation-building, yet they remain unsung heroes noting that the noting it is time to give them prominent roles in governance.
He made this disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja, during a book launch, titled: “101 women of Impact”, which reveals the inspiring stories of women who have excelled in their fields, authored by Barrister Zainab Marwa.
Tinubu, represented by the All Progressives Congress National Women Leader, Dr Betta Edu, said, “Women are a core part of nation building. They have paid the ultimate price in Nigeria for development, peace and unity of this country.
“However, we remain the unsung heroes in Nigeria and I think this an opportunity for a woman to really bring to the front burner the great work other women have done within the last seven years.
“It’s been high impacts from women. And we are using this as a stepping stone to say more women should be brought into governance, leadership and politics in Nigeria and of course beyond governance. Leadership and politics in every single sector. Women have been outstanding and more women need to be encouraged and inspired to come forward.”
Also speaking, Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, urged governors to engage more women in governance in order to accomplish impressive development in their states.
She said, “We pray that the incoming administration will engage more women, not just at the national level, but right at the state and local government level for us to achieve better results and make this country move forward, leadership at the National Assembly, Nigerian woman are saying that we need at least a deputy speaker in the House of Representatives.”
The book, reviewed by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, who said that the book 101 Nigerian Women of Impact, is a journey through the lives of women who have found themselves in a position to make impact.
Chairman of the event, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, said “We are here to draw the attention of nation to expanding the scope of possibilities with women in different areas when we provide the environment for them to try.
“Knowing the strength of our women and taking full advantage of their contributions will help us as a society to accelerate our pace of growth and development, women no longer belong in the background, because they are now taking the forefront in breaking barriers, leadership and productivity.”
On what informed the book, the author said she was inspired to write the book to celebrate the incredible achievements of Nigerian women who had played significant roles in various sectors of society.
She said, “All the women’s in this book, no matter how old or young, no matter how rich or poor and no matter the access that they have, to the media and to the table of power, all of them have been very impactful in their own ways.
“Not all of them are the wives of Governors, Ministers or heads of MDS. But I assure you that every single woman in the book ‘101 Nigerian women of impact’ had impact in her immediate surroundings.”
The book was unveiled by Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), and others in commemoration of International Women’s Day.
Dignitaries at the event were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ọjájá II, and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar among others.
