Poverty, Social Exclusion Hamper Women’s Leadership Roles- FCT Minister

The Minister of State in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has identified poverty, social exclusion, distance from school facilities and poor quality 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 organisation.

Aliyu who served as the special guest of honour at the event, advocated that to get more women in leadership roles, huge investment must be committed towards education, health and economic opportunities for women and girls, stressing that Africa needs women to come into leadership roles at a faster rate and higher percentages than they are today.

She called on government at all levels to ensure that women are at the forefront of leading the economic growth Africa desires, be part of policy making and implementation, just as she tasked women organisations to work towards the agenda of gender and social inclusion policy to protect women 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 in 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 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 in the forefront of this assignment.  

“We should mentor the younger generation to bridge the gap. All women are politicians because we manage homes, systems, organisations and people. Women are indeed change agents and they must be involved in oil and gas sector”, she added.

The highpoint of the event was the conferment of the prestigious life time patron to FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, by the board of African Women in Leadership Organisation.

Ime N