UNESCO Celebrates International Women's Day 2006

Affirmation by

Her Excellency: Mrs Chinwe Nora Obaji,
Federal Republic of Nigeria's Honourable
Minister of Education

At the UNESCO 2006 International Women's Day
[IWD] Round Table concerning: "Women in Politics"
UNESCO Headquarters, Room II, Paris: France
Wednesday 8 March, 2006

Madam President

Honourable Ministers

Mr. Director-General of UNESCO

Your Excellencies

Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen:

I would like first of all to confess to you that I do not normally believe
too much in celebrating days, for I have found that much too many of them
turn out to be more of excuses for inaction than anything else: you
celebrate the day and you forget the action!!

But the International Women’s Day is far from being that kind. For it has
proved over the years, in concrete ways, to be a meaningful rallying point
for showcasing women’s activities, women’s place in the society, their
deserved place and their actual place, and above all, it tends to point out
the existing lacunae and to underline the action that needs to be taken to
redress the iniquitous unbalanced position of women in our societies today:
and finally the waste of valuable human resources that has resulted from this
anomaly, to the detriment of societies at large.

This is why I feel particularly honoured to be part of this year’s gathering, a
very distinguished gathering – designed to bring together such a formidable team,
to discuss the subject of "Women in Politics." And yet, distinguished Ladies and
Gentlemen, it had not always been this way. If I limit myself only to Africa, in
fact only to Nigeria, historical evidence abound showing the place of great
Nigerian women and their very notable contributions to the political history of
their societies. These distinguished women whose achievements are recorded both
in the oral and written history of Nigeria are dotted across the different parts
of our country and were involved in the decision making process of their societies,
offering unquestionable leadership both in peace and war and ensuring, through
their deeds, respect and safety of their people. Among them are Moremi of Ile-Ife,
Efunsetan Aniwura of Ibadan, Madam Tinubu of Lagos, Queen Amina of Zaria,
Queen Kambasa of the Ijaws and Princess Imkpi of Igala. There are also Nigeria’s,
distinguished women of recent times, who were very active in the political
process that eventually led to the political independence of Nigeria.
To mention just a few, there were women leaders such as Margaret Ekpo,
Alhaja Humaini Alaga, Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and Lady Oyinkan Abayomi;
there were also group action undertaken by women; the 1929 “Aba riots”
against taxation of women, the Egba women revolt against colonial
exploitation in Abeokuta.

You may well ask, “then how did we come to the present situation?” which is
clearly encapsulated in the UNITED NATIONS statistics I quoted to you a
little while ago. Unfortunately, Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen, the
post-colonial arrangement in most of our countries, this is definitely
true of mine, were overwhelmingly men-dominated, to the detriment of
the just exploitation of the tremendous storehouse of leadership and
devoted services that reside in more than 50% of societies contributed
by women.

In spite of our disadvantaged place in the political order, women in
Nigeria never gave up. We continued to make our voices heard in every
sphere of life. Above all, we continued to acquire knowledge and know-how
and to contribute to the progress of societies especially in such vital
fields as education and health. The women constituted themselves into a
powerful repository of knowledge, know-how and a qualified corps of
\dedicated nationals, ready and waiting for the right leadership to be
galvanised into an army of progress in the service of the nation. You will
also recall that for a very long time, the military was in charge of our
affairs and very little was heard of women. Favourably, that leadership we
had been longing for emerged, with the coming into power of the administration
led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, the present Head of State of Nigeria,
who has demonstrated more that any leader in the history of Nigeria, a most
refreshing and meaningfully inspiring belief in the capacity and capability of
women to contribute to the leadership, the development and the moral strength
of the nation. One by one, in quiet but solidly determined moves, he has
placed women in the very heart of his administrative structures. He has
given us responsibilities that a few decades ago were considered “no-go areas”
for women. Between 1999 -2003, we had women Ministers of Transport, Aviation,
Science and Technology and even in Defence. Today, eight women are members
of President Obasanjo’s Executive Council and many of us holding some of the
more important ministries in the government.

For the first time ever, the Nigerian Federal Minister of Finance is, a woman.
Mrs Ngozi OKONJO-IWEALA. I know that Mrs. OKONJO-IWEALA is
not unknown to many here today. She was a Vice-President of the World Bank
before being fished out by our President. In her time in office she has
taken the finances of Nigeria firmly in hand and has been able to turn
the economy of the country around for the better. She constituted an
important force in President Obasanjo’s all-consuming action in favour
of the debt cancellation for several developing countries, including
Nigeria. She is also the head of the Economic team of our country.

Other women Ministers include Mrs Helen ESUENE, Mrs Maryam CIROMA,
Mrs Grace OGWUCHE, Mrs Nenadi ESTHER-USMAN, Mrs Halima ALAO,
and Mrs Oby EZEKWESILI. Other distinguished Ladies who must be mentioned here
includes Senator Joy EMODI, 1st Nigerian female Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Education, Mrs Ndi OKEREKE-ONYIUKE, 1st Nigerian woman
Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mrs Dora AKUNYILI,
1st Nigerian woman Director-General of the National Agency For Food
And Drug Administration And Control [NAFDAC]. We also have many women
Permanent Secretaries, Chief Executives of Boards and Parastatals and
Vice-Chancellors of Universities.

The President also has in his cabinet several female special advisers in some of
the most crucial areas of the administration’s work. These female actors in the
politics and administration of the country have most fortunately proved themselves
worthy of the trust that has been put in them. When President Obasanjo asked me to
come into his cabinet as a Minister, I in fact became the first woman ever to be
in charge of the Ministry of education. Through the President’s commitment and his
unrelenting support, education has continued to receive the concentrated attention
it deserves. In general, Education for All [EFA] has grown exponentially in the
country, and the programmes designed to correct the imbalance in education -
opportunities, have moved forward. It is in the context of this that we have been
able to take action directed towards the encouragement of special educational
programmes and projects for women and girls. Among our recorded successes today
is the fact that, in a populous male-dominated society as ours, formal school
enrolment of females now far exceeds that of males in some states. We have also
put reforms in place to reposition the Ministry.

This is only the beginning. The important issue is that now that some women are
being given the opportunity for service and leadership, they are proving themselves
to the delight and appreciation of all – men and women. Our President, Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) has lit the light at the end of the tunnel for us with the
hope that, when the scale is eventually balanced, and the more than 50 percent of human
beings, made up of women from all over the world, occupy their rightful places in
the ordering of the world and for the greater glory and success of humanity itself,
Nigerian women will not be left out.

Thank you all for your attention.

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