When do we hear of women
who, starting out of obscurity, boldly claim respect on account of their great abilities or daring virtues? Where
are they to be found?
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (1759
– 1797)
How nice and 
refreshing it is to see that Igbo women are doing very well both in Nigeria and in
Diaspora.
For all the right reasons, the names of Igbo women are constantly being mentioned in the local and
international media for excelling in their different career fields.
It is not though as if our women have not always been this hardworking
and enterprising, the economic downturn of the 80s and 90s, coupled with the 419 influence and scourge in Igboland
helped turn a lot of Igbo women into women of easy virtues, sisters began to create headlines for all the wrong
reasons, as drug pushers and semi-commercial sex workers.
It became difficult for most eligible brothers to find willing and
suitable wives, this was because love was only being offered for sale to the highest paying suitor or bidder, a
situation that was encouraged by some Igbo families who saw their daughters as cash cows and commercial properties
to be milked and exploited to the maximum, the richer the potential suitor was, the happier the families were.
In the race to ‘acquire’ these commercial goods which the families have so expensively put on the market, the suitor
from abroad is therefore assumed to have the most chances as he would be seen to have bags full of dollars while
also providing the surest and easiest way for both the girl and her parents to escape the harsh economic climate
in Nigeria.
It must have been tough for our mothers to come to terms with what
was happening around them, especially mothers who belonged to the old school, the days and age when women were
the rallying point and bedrock of their families, the days that they would tie their babies at the back and still
go to the farm to harvest crops, and still come back home to cook for their husbands while still handling the domestic
front effectively.
In those days, women still stood solidly behind their husbands like
the Iroko tree supporting them every step of the way, this situation appears to have changed since the term career woman
became feminists’ favourite excuse for abandoning their ordained family roles and also became a popular female
expression, and women’s answer to the men’s perceived long period of domination and ‘oppression’.
A visit to any of the Nigerian universities usually left one with the
impression that all hope was lost, judging by the activities that went on in the campuses, which became fertile
hunting grounds for senile men with the bulge and fat wallets, while this problem still persists, it is hoped however
that the rising profile of Igbo women will at least give some of these sisters something to hope for, believe in
and aspire to.
Still going back in history, one could easily recall the famous Aba
women riots of 1929, a
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time that the men were still probably hunting lions and wresting in the village square to exhibit their prowess
and prove their manhood, considering the prevailing colonial atmosphere of the times, for the women to have pulled
off the riots says a lot about their dynamism, intelligence and activism, it is then a bit surprising that for
what ever reasons, the tempo was not maintained and sustained in the decades that followed.
Could it be that for selfish reasons the men deliberately ‘held’ the
women back? or did tradition and culture, the notion and concept of the woman’s place being in the kitchen bog
down Igbo women’s progress?
If Igbo men were responsible for the lull in their progress, are the
women now entitled to any kind of compensation or an affirmative action policy from Igbo men to redress the imbalance?
Is this what is currently happening? Are the Igbo men deliberately taking the back seat at the moment while the
women occupy the driving seats? or is it just a natural changing of the guards?
Are Igbo men failing or under achieving? or are there just not enough
Igbo men left in the professions? Are brothers now busy killing each other in the name of politics as the rest
play the game of draughts at Nkwo Nnewi and Idumota markets while waiting for customers?
If the women had been held back by tradition, the fear of success and
also by the general belief in Igbo land that they will not be able to find husbands if they became too successful,
has that tradition now changed or do the women now care less? Are they now being influenced by other cultures,
globalization and the media?
On their way up the career ladder, when is it right for the women to
stop and draw the line? Make choices between careers, husbands and families? At the point that a conflict of interest
begins to arise? At the point that their husbands begin to be used as favourite dinner topics and labelled as woman wrappers?
The women will have to make these choices and decisions for themselves.
One thing is certain though; the current turnaround in fortunes for
Igbo women is good, both for the women, the men and also for Ndigbo in general.
In the 80s and 90s, names such as Jennifer Madike (where is she now?), Oyibo Odinamadu, Mariam Ikejiani, Chris Anyanwu and a few others graced and bestrode the Nigerian
political and media landscape like true amazons. They all too quickly disappeared like meteors.
The beautiful Chris Anyanwu, ex NTA newscaster, ex Imo state Information
Commissioner, ex The Sunday Magazine publisher suffered a wickedly fate at the hands of Abacha who made her a political
and also a prisoner of conscience, hopefully where ever she is today and whatever it is she is doing, she has not
lost faith, at least her pioneering efforts and legacy lives on.
The elegant Kema Chikwe, ex minister in the Obasanjo administration tried
her best to raise the profile of Igbo women, she was helped by her love for fashion and controversy, a combination
that endeared her heavily to the media who never seemed to get tired of showing her beautiful smiles behind those
trademark glasses, she may be gone now but not many Igbo sisters will forget her easily, not only for the fashion
styles they copied from her but also for making being a minister at such age look so reachable and worth aspiring
to.
This is the best of times for Igbo sisters, they have never had it
so good, finally the men can at least take a bow and move to the side, Igbo women have arrived, just like the Virginia
slims advertisements will say, You have
come a long way baby.
Mrs. Ngozi Okonji-Iweala is the iron lady at the federal ministry of finance, poached from the World Bank to come and salvage
the rot at the ministry, she is holding her head high amongst men, we all know how tough it can be riding in a
car with boys, she is still standing.
Lady Uzo Nwizu (bless her soul) was the Nigerian Immigration service Comptroller General before she died in summer
2004, The position of the first female Comptroller general in the Nigeria Immigration service, another first from
an Igbo sister.
Oby Ezekwesili heads Obasanjo’s Due Process and Diligence office, so hopefully, it is now bye bye to ten percents
and kickbacks and welcome to transparency and accountability in the awarding of government contracts. Another sister
doing good and holding her head high.
I saved the best of the quartet for the last, Dora Akunyilu, The NAFDAC strong woman, they say the fear
of Dora is the beginning of wisdom, some fake drugs manufacturers
who still live to tell the tale can tell us better what their experiences are, she is currently on a cleansing
mission and she is an Igbo sister.
While discussing these rising phenomenon with some friends of mine
recently, one of them pointed out the fact that most of these women attended the University of Nigeria Nsukka,
I can not confirm this but if indeed they did, then they surely do have a strong old girls network, the UNN is
now turning out to
be the Harvard
of Igbo women, of which attendance guarantees a position of power and authority.
Helping to shape Nigerian and African foreign policy as the Director
– General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) is Prof. Joy Ogwu; she is also doing Ndigbo proud, and so is her peer
Dr (Mrs.)
Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke who is the Managing Director of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, a job and position that men can only
dream of.
Lady Joyce ifegwu, the Chairman of Citizens International Bank deserves our praise as well, for having survived the
game for so long, especially being married to an Abiriba man and braving the odds to rise beyond the Abiriba’s
traditional business of stock fish (okporoko) and second hand clothes (okirika). Although her banking peer, Chief (Mrs.) Pat Nwobodo
hasn’t fared so well, thanks to Obasanjo and his witch hunting policies, she still deserves a big mention for her
efforts to revive and resuscitate Savannah Bank before the wielding of the big stick, Mrs. Nwobodo in addition
to being involved in several other projects is the Vice Chair at the American International School In Abuja (AISA),
she is responsible for Strategic Planning and Policy.
Amongst the new generation of Igbo women doing Ndigbo proud include
the
likes of Oluchi Onweagba. She was supposedly plucked from the streets of Lagos where she was selling oranges and bread, now she sells name brand designer clothes on the world
stage and fashion catwalks of Milan, Paris,
New York and London as a top elite model, having won the M-NET
face of Africa contest a few years
back.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie literally had the literary world spinning on their heads this year with her Purple Hibiscus, a novel that won awards and was also shortlisted
for several others including the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction. She is the new face of the Igbo woman, which reflects
determination and success.
How can I fail to mention the Lion’s jewel, Bianca Ojukwu (formerly Bianca Onoh), one of the most beautiful Igbo women ever,
now captured (tamed?) by the lion, Dim Emeka Ojukwu (Ikemba Nnewi). Bianca won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria beauty pageant in the eighties
and went on to win the Miss Intercontinental beauty pageant, another first by an Igbo woman.
While the honour roll list is not in any way conclusive, this is just
a way of telling these icons what we think of them and also to let the other Igbo women doing their best out there
to know that although they may feel unsung at the moment, their time is here now as there are things to live for,
just like these women have demonstrated.
So how are Igbo men taking these changing of the guards? Do they feel
threatened? Is their traditional domain being challenged? The Igbo society is so chauvinistic and male dominated,
women are not usually supposed to be seen, they are only to be heard. So how will the family order change now that
it appears that it is the woman that is bringing home the higher pay check?
What is happening in the Igbo society is a true reflection of globalization
and change. Igbo men should embrace it because it is here to stay, they should not feel threatened and challenged,
rather they should support the women all the way. There is already a precedence and recognition of this trend in
the Bible, the Book of Proverbs chapter 31, verse 10 – 31 says…
A good woman who can find? She is far more precious
than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not
harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of
the merchant, she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household
and tasks for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She girds her loins with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. She opens
her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for
all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her
husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers girdles to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her
household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also,
and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceitful,
and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let
her works praise her in the gates.
In concluding, I will quote Mary Wollstonecraft once again:
“It is time to effect a revolution in female manners - time to restore them to their lost dignity
- and make them, as a part of the human species.” ~~~
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (1759 – 1797)
Coming soon: The
Rise and Struggles of Igbo men (your inputs
will be appreciated so please email your views and comments)