Oxfam in Nigeria’s Gender Coordinator Suzan Agada was the guest of the Decade of Resilience Radio Program International Women’s Day Edition on Kiss FM 99.9 Abuja. Inspiring Female Leadership in the New Normal was the topic of discussion in tandem with the 2021 International Women’s Day theme Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 World.
The program host Victoria Unachukwu began the program by sharing statistics on the progress made by countries with female leadership in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic while highlighting the recent appointment of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the first African and first female Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Across the world females in leadership have achieved outstanding result and impact and hence the need to have more female in leadership as the world battles to recover from the impact of the coronavirus which has drastically reduced the progress made globally in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
Suzan Agada, Mr E and Victoria Unachukwu
Suzan Agada shared the work of Oxfam in Nigeria in providing opportunities for women and girls in Nigeria to harness the agricultural value chain and investing in educational programs that will prepare them for future and present leadership positions. “Nigeria has a gender bill that once passed and implemented will provide opportunities for millions of girls and women to contribute meaningfully to national development,” Suzan said.
Currently, Nigeria has never had a female president or vice president twenty-two years after returning to democratic rule. In the 9th National Assembly, only six women make up the 109 members of the senate and 11 women were elected into the 360 member House of Representatives. There is an urgent need to have more female representation in political leadership in Nigeria as only about 4.2 percent were elected into office during the 2019 Nigerian General Elections.
As the world calls for gender equality, there is a need to challenge norms that inhibit leadership opportunities for women as well as celebrating women who are breaking the glass ceiling. However, this does not have to be if more men support women to be better as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
A Decade of Resilience Radio Program is made possible with the kind support of The Ebaidebheki Initiative. It holds every Friday between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm on Kiss FM 99.9 Abuja. You can also watch live on Instagram via @NGYouthSDGs
