Whether it is through royal recognition, power lists or International Women’s Day, acknowledging the achievements of women who break through the glass ceiling has a vital role to play in promoting further diversity in the society.
There are numbers of women out there ranging from the list of media personalities to business women, political leaders etc. doing wonderfully well, changing the status quo in the continent and serving as a source of inspiration to many others.
Here are list of some wonder women changing the status quo in the society and their achievements.
NGOZI – OKONJO IWEALA
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian-American economist, fair trade leader, environmental sustainability advocate, human welfare champion, sustainable finance maven and global development expert. Since March 2021, Okonjo-Iweala has been serving as Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Notably, she is the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization as Director-General. She sits on boards of: Danone, Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter, MINDS: Mandela Institute for Development Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, One Campaign, GAVI: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Rockefeller Foundation, R4D: Results for Development, ARC: African Risk Capacity and Earthshot Prize plus others.
Also, She serves Brookings Institution as a non-resident distinguished fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative in their Global Economy and Development Programme.
She is a Commissioner Emeritus and Co-Chair of Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. At The World Bank, she has a 25-year career as a development economist; rising to become Managing Director for Operations from 2007 to 2011.
Okonjo-Iweala was the first Nigerian woman to serve two terms as Minister of Finance, first under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003 to 2006 and secondly, under President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015.
Subsequently, from June to August 2006, she served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria. In 2005, Euromoney named her Global Finance Minister of the Year.
IBUKUN AWOSIKA
Ibukunoluwa Abiodun Awosika is a Nigerian business woman, motivational speaker, and an author. She was former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, she is a member of the board of directors First Bank of Nigeria plc, she is a member of the board of directors Cadbury plc, she is also a member of the governing board convention on business integrity.
She graduated with a B.Sc in Chemistry from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) although she had initially wanted to study Architecture she ended up taking elective courses in Accounting. She holds post graduate and MBA certificates upon the completion of several business programmes at the Lagos Business School and IESE Business School – University of Navarra.
She is the author of
The “Girl” Entrepreneurs,
Business His Way and
The ‘Girl’ Entrepreneurs: Our Stories So Far Kindle Edition.
As a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative, Aspen Global Leadership Network, Institute of Directors, and Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, Ibukun, through her projects aspires to use her opportunities in life to further the greatness of her dear country by raising entrepreneurs to create jobs for the large unemployed youthful population. She is a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), served on National Job Creation Committee (NCJC), and sits on the International Advisory Board of IESE Business School, Barcelona-Spain.
CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in The Times Literary Supplement as “the most prominent” of a “procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors which is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature”, particularly in her second home, the United States.
She was born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1977. She grew up on the campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where her father was a professor and her mother was the first female Registrar. She studied medicine for a year at Nsukka and then left for the US at the age of 19 to continue her education on a different path. She graduated summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State University with a degree in Communication and Political Science.
She has a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Arts degree in African History from Yale University. She was awarded a Hodder fellowship at Princeton University for the 2005-2006 academic year, and a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University for the 2011-2012 academic year. In 2008, she received a MacArthur Fellowship.
She is a feminist and she has many books to her name, she is the author of Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), Americanah (2013), the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), and a book-length essay We Should All Be Feminists (2014).
Her most recent books are Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (2017), Zikora (2020) and Notes on Grief (2021).
In 2016, she was conferred an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane letters, honoris causa, by Johns Hopkins University, In 2017, she was conferred honorary degrees, Doctor of Humane letters, honoris causa, by Haverford College and The University of Edinburgh.
In 2018, she received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Amherst College. She received an honorary degree, doctor honoris causa, from the Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, On 20 May 2019, she received an honorary degree from Yale University.
LOIS AUTA
Lois Auta is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Seed Foundation and she hails from Kaduna. She has received awards for her role in promoting disabled sport globally in the U.S. She was hosted among 30 Nigerians by President Mohammadu Buhari for technology innovation and creativity and she is known for
Rights of persons living with disabilities.
She holds a Diploma and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Abuja Nigeria, In 2019, she contested the AMAC/Bwari’s constituency seat at the National Assembly on the platform of the Accord Party.
Auta has advocated for the betterment of persons with disabilities in Nigeria for over five years.
Her positions and roles include:
President of FCT Disabled Sports Club, Abuja, Board Member of Federation of Civil Servants Staff with Disabilities Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Assistant National Coordinator of Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative,
Board Member of Potters Gallery Initiative, Member of Joint National Association of Persons with disabilities,
Founder of Ability Africa
President of Women on Wheels Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
She has held meetings with world leaders including John Kerry, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Assistant Secretary of State on African Affairs. Ambassador Rice, US Senators, the Nigerian President, Nigerian Senators, Ministers, and Chief Executive Officers of world recognized companies and organizations.
NNEKA ONYEALI-IKPE
Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe is a Nigerian business executive and banker. She is the first female managing director and Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Nigeria.
She started her banking career as a legal officer with the defunct African Continental Bank in 1990. She then joined the First African Trust Bank as a treasury officer. She later joined Zenith Bank and Standard Chartered Bank respectively.
In 2011, she joined Enterprise Bank as an Executive Director of the bank’s operations in Lagos and other locations in the South-Western region in Nigeria and in 2015, she joined the commercial bank Fidelity as an executive director and she was announced Onyeali-Ikpe as its managing director in December 2020 till date.
She has a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She also has a master’s degree in Law from King’s College London.
YEMISI EDUN
Yemisi Edun holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife and a Master’s degree in International Accounting and Finance from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a CFA® Charter holder. She is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers; an Associate Member of the Institute of Taxation of Nigeria; a Member of Information Systems Audit and Control, U.S.A; and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.
She began her career with Akintola Williams Deloitte (member firm of Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu) in 1987, with main focus in Corporate Finance activities. She was also involved in audit of Banks and Other Financial Institutions.
She joined FCMB in year 2000 as Divisional Head of Internal Audit and Control before assuming the role of Chief Financial Officer of the Bank.
She is now the Managing Director of FCMB and she is the first woman to ever hold the position. She assumed this position in July 2021.
Folake Folarin-Coker
Folake is the founder of Tiffany Amber, a world-famous iconic Fashion label and she began her Label journey in Lagos in 1998.
She schooled in Europe where she got an opportunity to interact and engage with various cultures while still at a young age.
Interestingly, she has a Master’s Degree in Petroleum Law from Switzerland, but as fate or passion would have it, her insatiable love for fashion led her into fashion design.
Her interest to focus on unique fashion designs that appeal to women of various tastes and preferences led her to venture fully into fashion and this has earned her global recognition, making her the first African fashion designer to showcase her talent at the New York Mercedes Fashion Week two years in a row. She has also been widely featured by International media houses such as CNN, she received an Enterprise Award at WIE (Women, Inspiration and Enterprise) Symposium in 2013. In addition, Folake also has made it onto the Forbes Power Women in Africa list.
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