Introduction.
In developing countries like Nigeria, most people and cultures give priority to their male children over their female counterparts. This is because male children are to stay back in the homestead, get married and beget children to take on the families name and legacies, while the females will eventually be married away into other homes, where they would bear children who would take on their husbands legacy.
What a crude line of thought!
This post, is geared towards encouraging us all to ensure that we give all our girl children equal opportunities to education and training. This is very vital as it will help to prepare her as she grows into womanhood and motherhood.
She needs to be sent to school, trained to acquire a skill or more. These will expose her to opportunities needed to excel in all aspects of human existence.
To demonstrate that a girl child is not of less importance or value, I will write briefly about two women whose parents trained well, who also eased the opportunity and distinguished selfs in various aspects of life.
Two well trained women, who ceased the opportunity and distinguished selfs.
The women I will talk about are;
- Luz Truss.
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
a. Liz Truss (Formal British Prime Minister)
Mary Elizabeth Truss was born on the 26th July 1975 to the family of John Truss and Mary Truss (Father and Mother). She married Hugh O'Laleary in the year 2000 and they have two children.
Schools attended.
- Merton college.
- Oxford. (BA) where she studied politics, phylosophy and economics.
Political Career.
She is a politician.
She was a member of Liberal democrats till 1996. Then she joined consecutive party in same 1996 till date.
Before Cameron appointed her Secretary of states for environment and food, and rural affairs, she was in the parliament under secretary of state for children and education. After the 2017 election, she was demoted to be the chief of secretary to the treasury.
When Theresa May announced her resignation as the British Prime Minister, Luz Truss supported Boris Johnson's bid which later was a success. When Johnson became a conservative leader and prime minister, he appointed Truss as secretary of states for international trade and president of the board of trade and subsequently, in September 2019, she was also appointed a minister of women and equalities.
In 2021, when Johnson reshuffled his cabinet, Truss was promoted to the post of Foreign Secretary. During which period she led negotiations to the North Ireland Protocol and the UK response to the ongoing Russia - Ukrainian war.
After the resignation of Johnson, Truss defeated Rishi Sunak in an election to succeed Johnson and was appointed prime minister by Elizabeth II just days before she passed on.
However, she resigned of her position soon after because of lots of criticisms and because some people showed they do not have confidence in her leadership.
Source
b. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Director General of World Trade Organization)
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian American economist. She was born in Ugwuashi-ukwu in Delta State, Nigeria, to the family of Professor Chukwuka Okonjo. Her father was the Obi (king) of the Obahia royal family of Ugwashi-Ukwu, Delta State, Nigeria.
She is married to Ikemba Iweala and they both have four children.
She is the author of many books.
She has a 25 years career at the world bank.
Schools attended.
- Queen's college Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
- St. Anne's school, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
- Harvard University. (BA)
- Massachusetts Institute of technology. (MA, PhD)
Before her appointment as the Director General of world Trade Organization, she was seating at the Twitter board of directors before stepping down in 2021.
However, she still sits on boards of: > Danone, Standard Chartered Bank, MINDS: Mandela Institute for Development Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, One Campaign, GAVI: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Rockefeller Foundation, R4D: Results for Development, ARC: African Risk Capacity and Earthshot Prize plus others.Source
Political appointments in Nigeria and beyond.
In Nigerian politics, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala have been a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). She had served under two different presidents. Bellow are the political offices she held in the past and in the present.
- President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed her Minister of foreign affairs. (21st June 2006 - 30th August, 2006)
- President Olusegun Obasanjo Minister of finance. (15th July 2013 - 21 June 2006).
- President Goodluck Jonathan appointed her Coordinating minister for economy. (17th August 2011 - 29th May 2015).
- Incumbent Director-General of the World Trade Organization. (1st March 2021 - till date).
Conclusion.
These two women I had sighted above can be used as "poster women". It shows that a woman can be anything in the world if trained well and exposed to all the opportunities she needs just like men.
Every child be him a boy or a girl should be given equals opportunity. They should be trained in school or sent to acquire a skills. This will help them develope the necessary skills needed to attain a bright future.
Education will help give her the confidence to go after her dreams and create a great future for herself.
It will also help her make informed decisions even as it promotes gender equality.
If the parents of Luz Truss and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala were reluctant to invest money on them, because of any form of bias, they wouldn't have been what they are today to the amazement of their families and the world at large.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngozi_Okonjo-Iweala