Today, International Women’s Day, TheCapital writes about Nigeria’s most inspiring women. The young and spirited, of course, but also the older ones whose remarkable exploits inspire generations of Nigerian females to aspire with the belief that there is no glass ceiling that could prevent their growth or restrict their trajectory from grass to grace.
They are young. But their exploits in their various endeavours sizzle like the electrifying shafts of light that precede a thunderclap. The brilliant spokes of their achievements illumine far and near, shining lucent beams along the beaten tracts of endeavour. What a man can do, each of these women has certainly done better.
There is no gainsaying their exploits offer unprecedented hope to millions of Nigerian women, particularly those hard hit within and beyond the country’s threshold of social and economic turbulence.
Through the crises, several women have pulled through, tapping hope and inspiration from their few extraordinary peers, whose exploits are the stuff dreams are made of.
Beneath the glitter of their dazzling exploits, however, lies a bittersweet melody of toil. Their exquisite angled bones and lush curvatures of their frames hide a history of hard grind, disappointment, and rewards. But they aren’t worn from the slog of ambition. Rather, they have triumphed through tumult, thus commanding a cult following. Success has eventually become a part of each woman, like innate sinew and muscle.
Each of these heroines is commendably spirited, tenacious, and driven in her devotion to gainful labour. Each woman is a priceless gem blazing with a luminous shine. It’s what national treasures are made of.
Of this extraordinary league of Nigerian women, Oyindamola Lami Adeyemi flaunts the rare cut of an unusual jewel. There is something inspiring yet unfamiliar about her trajectory to fame. No one ever forgets meeting her.
The experience is intense. From her gracefulness to fluid aplomb, you’d get taken. Some get taken by her loveliness ; others by her piercing stare. Everybody remembers the Oyin Adeyemi stare. Always. Perhaps because it cuts a searing swath in your psyche; leaving you with a gut feeling of her sweet repute. It’s a reckoning.
In a universe that has not always made space for women, Oyindamola Lami Adeyemi, the Executive Chairperson of Tirex Petroleum & Energy, the founder and Group Managing Director of Still Earth Group, has fearlessly taken up a conspicuous space for herself. The power and pull of her enterprise inspire a new generation of young women, who are willing to stifle their fears and achieve greatness the Oyin Adeyemi way.
Adeyemi is a quintessential entrepreneur, renowned for her attainments in corporate Nigeria. Ms. Adeyemi is the founder of Still Earth Capital Partners Limited and the Group Managing Director of Still Earth Group of Companies.
She currently serves as a shareholder and a member of the board of directors of several companies in diverse sectors of the Nigerian corporate and business industry. She is also the head and founder of the Green Renaissance Initiative – a leadership advancement initiative.
Ms. Adeyemi holds a B.Sc. in political science, M.Sc. in political economy and governance and she is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where she completed the owner/president management program. She is a member of the Institute of Directors, member of the
Young Presidents Organization, member of Women in Business among other reputable organizations.
Then there is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an international bestselling writer, multiple award-winning author, a public intellectual, and a globally-acclaimed icon. She shot into the international limelight in 2003, following the release of her debut novel, ‘Purple Hibiscus‘ which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Her second novel, ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ (2006), won the Orange Prize. Her 2013 novel Americanah won the US National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times Top Ten Best Books of 2013. In 2020, she was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction ‘Winner of Winners’ award for her novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
Born on September 15, 1977, in Enugu, Nigeria, Chimamanda, the fifth of six children has had her work translated into over 30 languages.
Lest we forget Harriet-Ann Omobolanle (Bola) Adesola; an accomplished corporate matriarch and doyenne of banking and finance in Nigeria. Adesola is the Senior Vice-Chairman, Africa at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to this appointment, she was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and West Africa. She has over 32 years of experience in the banking sector.
Adesola’s sound knowledge of the Nigerian market, strong client and regulatory relationships, and broad banking experience which includes serving in various capacities involving the development of the Nigerian Money Market, the Interbank Settlement Systems, and the Discount House sub-sector are some of the hallmarks of her enviable career in the financial sector.
Prior to joining Standard Chartered in March 2011, Adesola was an Executive Director at First Bank of Nigeria Plc, and prior to that, the Managing Director of Kakawa Discount House, Nigeria. She also worked in Citibank for nine years in senior leadership roles in Nigeria and Tanzania.
Adesola holds a Law degree from the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985 and engaged in corporate legal practice until 1990. She is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and Lagos Business School, where she studied the Advanced Management Programme.
Born into an iconic Lagos family, Adesola grew up in Lagos, Nigeria in a small tight-knit family — just her parents, herself, and her older sister, Rosa Vera-Cruz. In a way, she was always the son her father never had.
Funke Opeke is another rare gem. The electrical engineer, founder, and CEO of MainOne, formerly Main One Cable Company, a communications services company is an experienced telecommunications executive who returned to Nigeria in 2005 as the Chief Technical Officer of MTN after a 20-year career in the United States. Prior to her return, she was the Executive Director of Verizon Communications Wholesale Division.
Her company, MainOne, founded in 2010, is a key provider of enterprise connectivity solutions, with an estimated 800+ business-to-business customers. These include major international technology enterprises, social media companies, global telecom operators, financial service companies, and cloud service providers.
The company owns and operates an extensive submarine network extending 7,000 kilometers from Portugal to Lagos, Accra, and along the West African coast, with landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. These provide connectivity to and from Europe, West African countries, and the major business communities in Nigeria.
MainOne also owns digital infrastructure assets that include three operational data centers, with an additional facility under construction expected to open in Q1 2022. These are in addition to key internet exchanges enabling low latency to key global networks, including Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook.
Opeke obtained her first degree in Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria, and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York, United States.
Equally dazzling are the exploits of Mo Abudu, an entrepreneur with a predilection for television. Abudu launched EbonyLife TV, Africa’s first global black entertainment and lifestyle network, in 2013, with a primary goal to create a more positive narrative around Africa.
In her quest, she started EbonyLife Films in 2014, producing Fifty, which emerged Nigeria’s highest-grossing drama and number one film in 2015. Fifty, which was acquired by Netflix in 2015, was also the only Nigerian film selected to screen at the 59th BFI London Film Festival.
Abudu began her career in the UK as a recruitment consultant in 1987 and went on to work for the Starform Group and ExxonMobil (Nigeria) as head of Human Resources and Training. She left in 2000 to establish Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited, a specialist human resources development company. While running VLA, Abudu developed an executive training center at the Protea Hotel in Oakwood Park, Lagos.
Abudu attended Ridgeway School, Mid Kent College, and West Kent College. She earned her M.A in Human Resources Development from the University of Westminster in London.
Olusola “Sola” Adejoke David-Borha, is the chief executive of Africa Regions at the Standard Bank Group since January 2017. She was the CEO of Stanbic IBTC Holdings until January 2017 and was deputy CEO and executive director of corporate & investment banking. She was the CEO of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc from May 2011 to November 2012, and was head of investment banking for Africa. She is the vice chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group since 2015. She joined the board of IBTC in July 1994. She has been a non-executive director of Coca-Cola HBC AG since June 2015. She was a director at Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC from 1994 to March 2017. She is a member of the governing council of Redeemer’s University. Olusola was born in Accra, Ghana to a diplomat father, which meant the family travelled a lot. The family returned to Nigeria when she was about 10 years old. Sola undertook her primary and secondary education in Nigeria before completing her studies at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1981.
She then proceeded to pursue an MBA from the Manchester Business School in 1991. Her executive education includes the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and the Global CEO Program jointly offered by Wharton, IESE, and CEIBS.
Then there is Halima Aliko-Dangote, the Group Executive Director Commercial of Dangote Industries Limited (Dangote Group). She was formerly and an Executive Director, Sales, and Marketing, Dangote Flour Mills Plc (DFM), a one-time subsidiary of Dangote Group. The Group currently has a presence in 17 African countries and is a market leader on the continent. She is also a Trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and Board President of the Africa Center.
Halima is a graduate of the American Intercontinental University, London, United Kingdom, and Webster Business School, in the UK where she obtained an MBA. She has attended a number of high profile leadership development programs including, the Programme for Leadership Development (PLD) at the Harvard Business School, Executive Development Programme at the Kellogg School of Management and Finance and Accounting for the Non-Financial Executive, Columbia Business School.
Also prominent on the list is Bella Disu, a Nigerian business executive, arts enthusiast, and philanthropist with over 16 years of professional experience across industries.
In 2004, she joined Globacom, where she currently provides strategic leadership as the Executive Vice Chairman of the foremost multinational telecommunications company operating in Nigeria and Ghana. In her role, she has steered Globacom on a path of sustained competitive advantage through a focus on quality, efficiency, innovation and customer responsiveness. In 2011, she took on the additional role of CEO of Cobblestone Properties and Estates Limited, a leading property development company which has a robust portfolio of residential and commercial properties in Nigeria.
With extensive experience in high-value contract negotiation and project management, she has successfully constituted and led notable projects such as the development of luxury residential property, Sisi Paris; new customer experience Gloworld centres; and the inauguration of the Alliance Francaise Mike Adenuga Centre by President Emmanuel Macron on July 4, 2018, in Lagos, Nigeria.
Disu also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Abumet Nigeria Limited, a glass, and aluminum manufacturing company effective on January 1st, 2021, and as a Non-Executive Director on the board of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s apex construction company. As the youngest member on both boards, Bella brings her enthusiasm for innovation and transformation to drive productivity and profitability of both organizations.
She holds a B.A in International Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, an M.Sc in Leadership from Northeastern University, Boston. She is a member of the prestigious Institute of Directors, Nigeria, and the Nigerian Institute of Management.
Deola Ade-Ojo is also another worthy name in the league of Nigeria’s leading females. A Nigerian-born fashion designer widely known by her signature name, Deola Sagoe, she started designing in 1988 when she joined her mother’s business with a view of expanding the label’s repertoire to encompass more contemporary designs for the ever-developing, cosmopolitan high-brow society.
Using African hand-woven materials in which she brought to life a range of distinct cultures; and contemporizing almost-lost traditional African techniques, Deola quickly became an icon in her field. Deola is well known for her uncanny attention to detail, her expert handling of a diverse range of fabrics as well as her exemplary grasp of a wide range of female body types. She is celebrated back home for her patriotism and zeal in Nigerian culture at large. Her ingenuity and innovativeness combined with strong business acumen and vision have seen her win various accolades, awards, and recognition over the years.
She was the first black woman to present a collection at AltaRoma, Rome’s celebrated fashion week, back in 2004 and the first Nigerian to have her own stand-alone show at the New York Fashion Week September 2014, she continues to lead the way in trailblazing Nigeria on the global fashion map.
Each woman’s attainment resonates as an anecdote of hope and industry, an almighty formula written to educate both young and old. There is no gainsaying their exploits offer unprecedented hope to millions of Nigerian women.
Nature gave them the form of a woman, but their actions elevate them to the height of the most valiant of men. Even higher perhaps in the pantheon of champions and the estimation of the most critical galleries.
