ATTACKS ON NIGERIAN FEMALE ELITES: DISCRIMINATION OR OPPRESSION? Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Honorable Minister of Finance and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke as a Case Study.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke

A Review by Udebhulu O. Kelly.

       Social and legal discrimination against women remains a major obstacle to economic development in emerging and developing countries, according to the latest edition of OECD's Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI). Though women's rights are improving in a number of countries, in others, women are still barred from fully contributing to social and economic life.

Discrimination against women is defined by Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women of 1979 (heretofore referred to as the 1979 Convention or CEDAW) as "any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."  As defined by the CEDAW, discrimination is characteristic of a situation where patterns of structural inequality are maintained by rules, norms and procedures that dictate a subordinate role for women in all spheres of society.

    From the above, the writer bothered often when accusations and counter accusations, assaults on characters, necessary and unnecessary comments are made towards most Nigerian female elites participating and contributing their respective worth to the development of our country, Nigeria. Most annoying of it all is that the male entities in the Government of Nigeria both past and present commit more havoc than most female counter part; yet, Nigerian critics keep mute till it involves female elite. Why? To this writer, most criticisms and attacks on Nigerian female elites are bored out of gender discrimination, hatred and envy on the part of some male counterpart who feels neglected because it is recognizably recorded that any ministry headed by a female is a no-go-area for corrupt intruder/contractor compared to a ministry headed by a male administrator.
    To explain vividly, many engage in defaming these Nigerian female elites. A concept that involves exaggeration or manipulation of facts to present an untrue picture of the targeted person, double speak, spreading of rumors, innuendo or deliberate misinformation on topics relating to the subject's morals, integrity, and reputation. It is a form of defamation or character assassination.

    Let us look at the biographies of two female elites in Nigeria political atmosphere presently and see if their backgrounds, educations, experiences and exposures would have landed them into any sorry condition in life before now?

A) Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was born on 6th December, 1960, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to the family of His Royal Majesty, late Frederick Abiye and Chief Mrs. Beatrice Agama from Yenaka, Yenagoa Local Government Area, of Bayelsa State.

Mrs Alison-Madueke completed her early education in Nigeria and the United Kingdom before proceeding to study Architecture in the United States. She completed her 5-year professional Architectural degree at Howard University, Washington D. C.

She began her working career at Charles Szoradi Architects, moving on to American Interior Builders Inc. as Project Engineer, both in Washington D.C. In 1988, she joined Furman Construction Management Inc. Rockville, Maryland, as Design Coordinator, returning to Howard University as an in-house Project Manager and a member of the Planning and Development team responsible for the design and implementation of a comprehensive master building and renovation plan for the University.

Mrs Alison-Madueke joined Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1992 as Head of the Project Unit of the Estate Development Division in Lagos, supervising the refurbishing and Maintenance of the company’s real estate in Lagos, Abuja and Jos. She later moved to the External Affairs Directorate as Head of the newly instituted Corporate Issues Identification and Management Department.

In 2002, Mrs Alison-Madueke was awarded the prestigious British Foreign and Commonwealth Chevening Scholarship and proceeded on sabbatical leave to the Cambridge Judge Business School (then called “Judge Institute of Management”), Cambridge University Hughes Hall, UK, where she obtained an MBA in 2003.

On her return, she was appointed Shell Nigeria’s Senior JV Relations Adviser for Strategy and Planning and then Lead Ventures Relations Adviser, managing the company’s relations and reputation amongst its Joint Venture partners. In 2006, in recognition of her track record of excellence, she was appointed to the board of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited, as External Affairs Director, making her the first female to be so appointed in the history of Shell Petroleum Development Company’s business practice in Nigeria.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke has held three significant Federal cabinet positions in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 2007:

1.     Appointed first female Honourable Minister of Transportation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in July 2007, charged with the responsibility of over-seeing the Maritime, Aviation, Railways, and Road Infrastructure of the Nation;

2.     Following a cabinet reshuffle in December 2008, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed the Honourable Minister of Mines and Steel Development in which she held the primary responsibility for directing the ministry’s mandate in the exploitation of the nation’s solid minerals and steel endowments;

3.     After a cabinet dissolution in March 2010, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was appointed Nigeria’s first female Honourable Minister for Petroleum Resources in which she holds the primary responsibility for the stewardship of Nigeria’s vast oil and gas resources.

A key responsibility in each of the Ministerial positions held by Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke was her participation as a member of Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council and the attendant responsibility for making presentations to the Federal Council on behalf of the respective Ministries.

Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke is married with children to Rear Admiral Alison-Madueke (rtd), a former Governor of old Anambra and Imo States and a former Chief of Naval Staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 

B) Dr, Okonjo-Iweala, Ph.D.

Dr, Okonjo-Iweala , PhD,  was born June 13 , 1954, from Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, where her father Professor Chukuka Okonjo is the Obi (King) from the Umu Obi Obahai Royal Family of Ogwashi-Uku.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala graduated with an A.B. magna cum laude in Economics from Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr, Okonjo-Iweala, PhD, was considered as a possible replacement for former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. Subsequently, in 2012, she became one of three candidates in the race to replace World Bank President Robert Zoellick at the end of his term of office in June 2012. On April 16, 2012, it was announced that she had been unsuccessful in her bid for the World Bank presidency, having lost to the US nominee, Jim Yong Kim. This outcome had been widely anticipated. However, this was the first contested election for World Bank president after the demise in 2010 of the Gentlemen's Agreement that the US would appoint the World Bank president and Europe would appoint the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, PhD, is also an Adviser to the World Bank on the Stolen Assets Recovery initiative. She served as a Managing Director at The World Bank Group since December 1, 2007 until August 2011. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala founded NOI-Gallup polls. She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria from 2003 to 2006. Before taking up her Ministerial appointment, she served in a number of important positions at the World Bank including Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Director of Operations in the Middle East and North Africa region, and Country Director for the South East Asia and Mongolia Country unit. She joined the World Bank in 1982. She serves as a Member of the Board of Governors of African Development Bank

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, Ph.D., is a member or Chair of numerous boards and advisory groups in the public, private and non-governmental sectors including DATA, the World Resources Institute, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Nelson Mandela Institution and the African Institutes of Science and Technology, and Friends of the Global Fund Africa. She is a recipient of numerous awards and honors including Time Magazine European Hero 2004, Euro money Magazine Global Finance Minister of the year 2005, Financial Times/The Banker African Finance Minister of the year 2005, and This Day Nigeria Minister of the Year 2004 and 2005.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Honorable Minister of Finance of Nigeria. She is also a Member of the Governing Council of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority in which capacity she provides advice and counsel to the Board of Directors. 

       From the above information relating to the two female elites, it is understandable to realize that corruption and excesses cannot be eradicated in Nigeria by criticisms and accusations anchored on  hatred, envy, selfish interest and discrimination. Let us learn to appreciate and welcome any Nigerian ready to contribute to the development of Nigeria. Get my message clearer, they might not be saints as you are not a saint either within your local or corporate area of control but we shall reduce corruption solely by engaging on constructive criticisms and accusations.

     This call for an end to all forms of discrimination against women emphasizes the need for a radical re‑definition of the process and content of economic, social and political development.  It stresses the need for a holistic orientation which acknowledges the vital role of women in development and engineers their integration into development processes as equal partners with men.  For this purpose, it is argued that legal and substantive protection at the local, state and federal levels should be coordinated for more meaningful enhancement of both the status and situation of women. All cabinet or nor cabinet ministers or ministerial heads should be given a constructive criticism, correction and condemnation; for this, a viable Nigeria for good governance will be realized. Thank you all.

Udebhulu O. Kelly is a trained journalist from AIU, Hawaii, USA, he lives in Madrid, Spain.