THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPOWERING WOMEN IN AFRICA AT TIMES OF CRISIS THROUGH QUALITY HIGHER EDUCATION

All over the world, women have been marginalized in virtually every sector. Particularly, in Africa, we are confronted with the sad reality of dominant masculinity and barbaric norms where women are nearly shut out of the political, economic, family and traditional systems; basic education for the girl child is considered a waste, talk more of higher education. I am yet to see a female head a classical traditional African system; traditional leadership is clearly earmarked for men and men only. This challenge of women relegation has persisted even in this era where education has been internationally recognized as a human right. The damage caused by the failure to realize that women make up about 50 percent of the African population (see World Bank data) has thrown Africa into multiple crisis economically, politically and otherwise. The earlier it is realized that empowering women through quality higher education is empowering the social, economic and family values of the African society, the sooner we will begin to reap the benefits. 

Women are naturally gifted with a high degree of bargaining power to convince and bring people together no matter the tension. This is evident in the few educated African women who have been given an opportunity to play significant roles in the economic sector. One of such women is Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In October 2005, she led the Nigerian team that worked out the cancellation of 60% of Nigeria’s external debt ($18 billion) with the Paris Club. The debt deal also led to the reduction of the country’s external indebtedness from $35 billion to $5 billion (www.rockerfellerfoundation.org/profile/ngozi-okonjo-iweala/). Very commendable! How would she have played this role if she did not have the requisite training and opportunity to contribute her wealth of knowledge and services to save Nigeria from financial crisis?

Very few African women have been given a chance at politics and governance, and they have been very successful at it. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president, has been praised for keeping the peace in Liberia. As reported by BBC Africa, Liberians went through 14 years of barbaric, drug fueled chaotic war, where child soldiers carried out the most horrible crimes. Myriad rebel groups took over towns and cities with terror, stripping the country of any semblance of amenities. Restoring and maintaining peace for twelve years is no mean feat. Bearing in mind that Mrs. Sirleaf is a Harvard trained economist, her outstanding performance has proven that a woman can fix a war torn nation where she is given the opportunity. This further establishes the importance of quality higher education for women. 

Furthermore, in a time of turbulence in the world, especially in Africa where the worst crimes against humanity are being perpetrated and there is almost no accountability by our leaders, we see exposed and courageous African women raising their voices to speak against impunity and injustice. Although they are few, they are clearly determined to make a change. An example is Aisha Yesufu, a Nigerian socio-political activist and entrepreneur, who was named among the BBC’s 100 influential and inspiring women in 2020. Aisha has been relentless in her campaign, calling out the Nigerian Government to rescue the over 200 girls abducted from a secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria, on 1 4th April 2014. She also played a pivotal role in the #Endsars protest against police brutality in Nigeria in October, 2020. 

The realization that quality education for women is key to resolving crisis has already been established in developed countries. Unfortunately, the third world, especially Africa, is still lagging behind. But not for quality higher education, the women mentioned above would be wasting away in the villages, undiscovered, and their countries would not be reaping the benefits of their contributions. Africa and the world at large needs more of these kind of educated and empowered women to move it forward economically, politically, socially and otherwise. Therefore, it is clear that to rescue Africa from catastrophe, prioritizing quality higher education for women cannot be overemphasized. 

As we celebrate International Day of the Girl Child today, we hope more women are given a chance at education and technology.