Africa’s growth: Don advocates more leadership positions for women
Prof. Michael Adikwu, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, says encouraging women to occupy leadership positions will promote female leadership growth in Africa.
Adikwu, who gave the advice in an interview with the newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, nonethless, commended the increase in the number of women leadership across the continent.
He observed that the emergence of Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, as the first female President of Tanzania, after the death of President John Magufuli, marked the third of its kind in Africa.
“It is good that a woman has taken oath of office as President of Tanzania; looking at the totality of it all, the number of women holding such offices is abysmal, considering there are 54 countries in Africa.
“Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who served as Liberian president from 2006 to 2018, was the first female elected President of that country.
“Also Joyce Banda, first elected female-President of Malawi, took office after sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika.
“Banda, Malawi’s fourth president and its first female president was second female head of state after Elizabeth II; she was the second woman to become president on the African continent.
“Before becoming president, she served as the country’s first female vice-president; remember that Hassan too came in as President, as a result of the death of the President Magafuli.
“Few women are in politics and more need to fight to hold political offices; not many women occupy leadership positions in Africa, therefore the need for them to be encouraged,” Adikwu said.
Adikwu, who reiterated his call for women to be encouraged to hold positions in politics, science, arts and humanities, among other fields, commended track records of female leadership globally.
He identified Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, and Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, as female leaders who had proven that women could lead globally.
“Although their numbers are few, there is the need for more female leaders in frontiers of science; women need to be encouraged to enter various fields of science and technology and break grounds like their men counterparts.
“In history, we read about Marie Curie, a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist, who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, we need more of such women who can contribute in various scientific fields.
“There are women who are currently in global positions, such as Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as the first woman to hold that position.
“Also Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde, former Chair and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2011 to 2019, is presently the president of the European Central Bank,” he added.
The former vice chancellor, however, commended the menfolk for their purposeful and deliberate creation of avenues that have allowed female to emerge as leaders, especially with the belief that women were not able to match up their male counterparts.
He commended the formation of Third World Network of Scientific Organisations (TWNSO), a fellowship for women designed to encourage equal playing field for men and women on the same pedestal.
