Corps Member Empowers Widows with Sewing Machine, Donate Library to School in Yobe State

  The Role of women in leadership
Tijani Hassan A.
Email:talk2tijanihassan@gmail.com

Going with the adage; "behind every successful man, there is a woman", it is indisputable to note that women are a major stakeholder in the Development project of any society. Despite this, having access to leadership position in Nigeria is not easy for millions of women taking part in elective politics as they lacks the support and opportunity to compete with other male politicians.

Without gainsaying, women have a significant role to Play in the socio-political and economic leadership of any country like the case of Nigeria. The leadership role played by both Mrs funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and Mrs Margaret Ekpo in the Nigeria pre-independence political struggle of the 1950s are incontrovertible. Mrs Kutti was a strong advocate and campaigner for women's right across the country. Mrs Margaret Ekpo on her part, was the only female member of the seven-man committee set up in 1951 to organize a national political organization geared towards achieving self government within the way period of five years for Nigeria. She became the vice president of Eastern House of Chiefs in 1959.

Globally, the issue of women marginalization and how participation in political leaderships and decision making have been attracting a lot of attention from scholars. Although women and men have different biological and physical make-up, they may share common features with men in terms of educational qualification, socio-economic status and occupation among others. Yet they are marginalized in virtually all spheres of Public life.

One of the significant goal of the set out by the fourth world conference on women, 1995, in Beijing, China was adequate representation of women in all decision-making bodies. it was suggested that, in any representative body, there should be a 'logical balance' of men and women to voice the concern of the society en masse. Good leadership and governance connote being participatory, accountable, predictable, and transparent, which reasonably call for a gender balance in political decision-making process.

Women in leadership positions especially in developing countries, have responsibility and the potential to influence their society through leadership particularly when they are enabled. Enabled women are empowered to aspire, attain and perform well in leadership positions while still carrying out their roles on the home front. Women are enabled when they are educated, exposed and economically emancipated. Throughout the ages and in all countries, women in leadership position have impacted positively on the society.The history of mankind is replete with such women.

The need to lay emphasis on the affirmative action for more women participation in politics is not an exaggeration but a call to action as it will instill meaningful opposition in political activities and elective offices. This is essential as women and men have different needs and priorities and though one might argue that such needs could be reflected by males but they do not have as much information or understanding of issues affecting the society as the women do. This is due to the fact that women would not only reflect their interest but would also act as mothers, care givers and wives.

Practically speaking, roles played by women in leadership position is evident in the effort of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili ( OFR), who in her capacity as the Director General of NAFDAC, reduced the incident of fake drugs in the country from about 90% to 68% of counterfeited drugs in 2001.

In conclusion, I will like to reiterate that women play an integral role in leadership position when called upon. In the light of this, they have to be supported and motivated in order to fast track positive development in the political and Socio-economic sphere of the country.

References

Emeka E. O Department of Sociology University of Ibadan and
      Monica E. A Department of
      Sociology Osun State university. Women and Leadership in
      Nigeria: challenges and prospects. Developing country
      studies. www.iiste.org.

Esther Kubai Awan. Increasing women in leadership in Nigeria
      through affirmative action. Thelawyerschronicle.com