African Women in Leadership Organisation Appoints Minister of State FCT As Life Patron
By Yahaya Idris, Abuja.
Minister of State, FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has identified poverty, social exclusion, distance from school facilities, and poor education coupled with gender disparities as factors working against women’s leadership roles in Africa.
The minister stated this at the African Women in Leadership Organisation global patrons 2022 open year ball, held in Abuja, shortly after she was conferred as life patron of the organization.
Aliyu who was the special guest of honor at the event, advocated for more women in leadership roles, also called for huge investment towards education, health, and economic opportunities for women and girls.
A press release signed by Austin Elemue Special Adviser to the Minister on Media said She further stressed that women in Africa need to come into leadership roles at a faster rate and higher percentages than they are today.
The statement quoted the Minister calling on government at all levels to ensure that women are at the forefront of leading the economic growth as Africa women desire, to be part of policymaking and implementation, tasked women organizations to work towards the agenda of gender and social inclusion policy to protect them and female children in various countries.
According to her; “Having more women in leadership has a significant impact on the bottom line. Women are coming into leadership at a much lower rate than men. This is where we must begin to change the narratives.
“We have to step up the rate at which women are coming into leadership roles. To achieve this goal, we have to increase the number of women in the pipeline. We need women to come into leadership roles at a faster rate and higher percentages than they are today”.
Earlier, the Vice President of Liberia, Her Excellency, Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, who chaired the occasion identified women as change agents in Africa, just as she called on women to continually engage the families, communities, and nations to make Africa a better place.
She, however, commended the Liberia government for giving women the opportunities to serve in sensitive positions, while acknowledging men as an important force in driving women’s agenda in the continent.
“Women should engage families, communities, and their nations to make Africa better. We are already a great continent, but for our children to see the greatness that we have put in place, there is still much work to be done. And the women should be at the forefront of this assignment.
“We should mentor the younger generation to bridge the gap. All women are politicians because we manage homes, systems, organizations, and people. Women are indeed changing agents and they must be involved in the oil and gas sector”, she added.
The highpoint of the event was the conferment of the prestigious lifetime patron to FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, by the board of the African Women in Leadership Organisation.
