By Aisha S. Michika
The month of March is regarded as a special month to celebrate women globally. In Nigeria, the situation is not different, as women were honoured for their outstanding contributions to human endeavours in commemoration of the all important day.
Accordingly, the Chairman, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Senator Margery Okadigbo, 44th Miss Nigeria Winner, Shatu Garko, literary genius, Chimamanda Adichie; celebrated upscale photographer, TY Bello; entrepreneurship advocate, Ndidi Nwuneli; ; Exxon Mobil’s Adesua Dozie; Shell Nigeria’s Aiboni Elohor and leading rights advocate, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, were honoured among 100 leading women in Nigeria.
This year’s list also has the likes of the Director-General, National Pension Commission, Hajia Aisha Dahir-Umar; CNN’s Stephanie Busari, the Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello and the Director/Chief Executive Officer, National Library, Prof. Chinwe Veronica Anunobi.
The Nigeria Women Annual 100 Leading Women is the premier qualitative profiling of phenomenal women in Nigeria who have contributed to the development of Nigeria and the world. It is a gender-specific biographical compendium that responds to existing gender gaps in Nigeria’s biographical documentation and leadership.
This year’s list is a mixed grill of tech experts, pastors, politicians, teachers, activists, development practitioners and C-Suite corporate leaders. Now in its fifth year, this compendium is published annually to commemorate International Women’s Day, March 8, and will run on livesmagazine.ng, the project media partners.
In a joint statement, the Executive Director of Gender Perspective, Tammie Edet Kammonke and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Profiles & Biographies, Kammonke Abam, said, “in publishing this compendium every year, we envision that we will continue to contribute to gender equality and women empowerment advocacy efforts towards filling the yawning gender gap in the leadership of Nigeria.”
According to them, documenting the accomplishments of outstanding Nigerian women and making women visible remains a key objective of the “Nigeria Women Annual: 100 Leading Women.”
They noted that the feedback from the previous editions has been profound, expressing profound gratitude to all those supporting the project. They also revealed that through the project, they have discovered that there are an incredible number of accomplished Nigerian women that are unknown and unsung across the wide spectrum of life both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.
“As in the previous editions, the array of women who made the list this year all have stories that have inspirational value, which we hope, will inspire readers, especially young girls and boys, who constitute our primary target,” the statement added. In the same vein, for the 2022 International Women’s day celebration, the video streaming service, Showmax, honoured women who have made and are making iconic contributions to Nigeria’s movie industry, Nollywood.
Fangueiro said in March, Showmax will publish a profile each day about a different woman who has contributed to the industry’s growth, from fast-rising stars to A-list actresses and producers. Some of these women include Bimbo Ademoye, Uzoamaka Aniunoh, Genevieve Nnaji, Kate Henshaw, Chineylove Eze, Biodun Stephen, and Tope Oshin.
Others include award-winning makeup artist Lola Maja, costume designer Yolanda Okereke-Fubara, popular screenwriter Dami Elebe, award-winning set designer and makeup artist Uche Nancy, and many more.
Speaking on why Showmax is spotlighting these women, Fangueiro said, “As a platform created by Africans for Africans to showcase and tell original stories that resonate, it is important to recognise everyone that contributes to telling these stories, and particularly the women who have played a remarkable part in the growth of what is one of the biggest film industries in the world.
These women, some of who work behind the scenes, have continued to invest their time and talent towards pushing the African narrative, and this is a cause that is very dear to us at Showmax.”