Source: Leadership
President Goodluck Jonathan's administration is now defined by several influential women around him. These women are not only vocal but are assigned responsibilities and positions of authority that are difficult to overlook.
They not only formulate policies; they insist on pushing them through. A sampler: When the president removed subsidy on petrol on January 1, 2012, most Nigerians blamed it on Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala , the minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy.
She is perhaps the most influential woman in Nigeria today.
Also, it is widely believed that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly may not be unconnected to the sweeping power the bill confers on the minister of petroleum resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. There is also the intriguing impasse over the continued retention of the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh. President Jonathan and the House of Representatives are locked in a titanic battle over whether to sack Oteh or not.
Another woman around Jonathan whose influence on him must be recognised is his quiet and unassuming mother Mama Eunice who is seldom seen in public. And, of course, the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who also exerts much influence on his government. But the question is: what makes these women irresistible?
DR NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA:
She was born on June 13,1954, to the family of Prof. Chukuka Okonjo of Umu Obi Obahai royal family of Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State. Her father is now a traditional ruler (Obi) of Ogwashi-Uku. She is a renowned economist of international repute.
Okonjo-Iweala is very exposed to issues of world politics and economy. Prior to her ministerial career in Nigeria, she was vice president and corporate secretary of the World Bank Group. She left the World Bank in 2003 following her appointment into President Obasanjo's cabinet as finance minister on July 15, 2003. Since then, she has always been in government.
As a minister, Okonjo-Iweala introduced the practice of publishing each state's monthly financial allocation from the federation account. This practice tremendously increased transparency in expenditure of public funds. She was instrumental in the debt reprieve which saw Nigeria obtaining its first foreign credit rating from Fitch and Standard. In 2005, she led the Nigerian team that struck a deal with the Paris Club, a group of bilateral creditors, to pay a portion of Nigeria's external debts (US $12 billion) in return for an $18 billion debt write-off.
In 2011, Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed as minister of finance with an additional portfolio of coordinating minister by President Jonathan. However, following the removal of fuel subsidy, she was widely criticised. She was believed to have initiated the policy and convinced the government to go ahead with it. This singular instance, among others, sums up her level of influence in the Jonathan administration.
Naturally, Jonathan will find it difficult, if not impossible, to resist her influence, considering especially her global status: she went to the extent of contesting the position of World Bank president, during which some international publications including The Economist, Financial Times and Newsweek whole-heartedly endorsed her candidature.
DIEZANI K. ALISON-MADUEKE:
The minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, was born on December 6, 1960, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to the family of Chief Fredrick Abiye Agama. Before her current appointment, she had been minister of transportation from July 26, 2007; she was later moved to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on December 23, 2008.
Alison-Madueke is the first woman to hold the position of minister of petroleum in Nigeria. She's also the first woman to head the country's delegation to the annual conference of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). She is also the first female minister of transportation in nigeria.
Diezani has a lot of controversies around her. In June 2008, she was subjected to a Senate probe after which it was alleged that, as transportation minister, she had paid N30.9 billion ($263 million) to contractors between December 26 and 31, 2007. Till date, she has never been charged or tried for this allegation which she strongly denied.
In October 2009, the Nigerian Senate also indicted Alison-Madueke and recommended her prosecution for allegedly transferring N1.2 billion into a private account of a toll company without due process. The allegation, however, never appeared before a court. She maintained her innocence, after all.
She is undoubtedly influential in Jonathan's cabinet. If the PIB is passed into law, she will have awesome powers.
PRINCESS STELLA ODUAH:
Born on January 5, 1962, to the royal family of Igwe D. O. Oduah of Akili- Ozizor, Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State, she obtained both her bachelor's degree in Accounting and master's degree in Business Administration in the USA. When she came back to Nigeria in 1983, she joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) where she worked until 1992; she resigned to establish her own firm, Sea Petroleum and Gas Company Ltd.
Stella Oduah actively participated in the political campaign that led to the election of President Jonathan during which she served as director of administration and finance. That role is evidence that she certainly has some influence on the president.
The aviation ministry which she heads has been involved in several bad tales as a result of fatal air mishaps that portrayed the Nigerian airspace as unsafe in the estimation of local and international observers. Any woman that rejects a ministerial offer and nominates her husband is a woman of no mean substance. She is working hard in the aviation subsector, but she must be conscious that the whole Nigeria is her canvass.
DAME PATIENCE JONATHAN
Born on October 25, 1957, Dame Patience Jonathan assumed the office of first lady from May 6, 2010.
Currently, Patience is also a permanent secretary in Bayelsa State.
She obtained a National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Mathematics and Biology from the Rivers State College of Arts and Sciences, Port Harcourt, and a degree in Biology and Psychology from the University of Port Harcourt. Her career background cuts across teaching, banking and civil service.
Patience Jonathan is not new to the position of first lady. She was the first lady of Bayelsa State between 2005 and 2007when her husband was the governor of the state. Though not an elective or appointed post, the seat of first lady has always been known to be influential and powerful -- almost like the presidency itself.
As the spouse of the president, Patience commands influence around him. For instance, even though the office does not have a constitutional provision, funds and other logistics are always made available for its running.
Patience made Jonathan. Perhaps she is the only one that can keep him on a proper course.
MADAM EUNICE JONATHAN
She is the first mother of the federation -- the biological mother of President Goodluck Jonathan. Her name may not have been ringing a bell but she is a woman to reckon with for always showing her son Goodluck motherly affection. Indeed, it's like she understands the intricacies and exigencies of the office of president, hence she always stands by him in both good and trying times. For instance, when Dame Patience returned from Germany after a long trip for medical treatment, Madam Eunice was there to cheer both Patience and Jonathan up.
Also, when President Jonathan and former President Obasanjo worshipped together at Aso Villa Chapel, she was there. On Good Friday, March 29, 2013, she was at the Aso Villa Chapel to worship with the president and other dignitaries. No doubt, the first mother is a devoted Christian. It is not in doubt that she does have a stake in the decisions of the president. After all, in Africa, a child remains a child to his or her parent until the parents are no more.
ERELU OLUSOLA OBADA :
Erelu Olusola Obada is the minister of state for defence. Before her appointment as a minister, she was the deputy governor of Osun State under Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the then executive governor of Osun State. Before going into politics, she worked as an advertising officer in the defunct Nigeria Airways Ltd. where she later rose to the position of advertising manager. '
A multi-facetted politician, the minister of state for defence has virtually all it takes to bring her influence to bear on the president's decisions, especially at this critical time. She has been overseeing the hefty defence portfolio, especially at this crucial period in the nation's history ZAINAB IBRAHIM KUCHI:
Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi, Nigeria's current minister of state for power, is the immediate past minister of state, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators in a professional capacity.
Kuchi is also a lawyer and an entrepreneur. She has over 33 years of post-graduation legal and management experience. She worked in the Niger State Ministry of Justice in Minna for eight and half years before transferring her services to the Central Bank of Nigeria in May 1989. She served the CBN in various managerial capacities and was a change champion for the implementation of the CBN change process until December 2004 when she retired voluntarily to set up her law firm Kuchi & Associates, a legal, arbitration & ADR consultancy firm that sues for conciliation and peace development with associates nationally and globally, as the executive principal partner since March 2005.
She also formed, and had been driving the president/chief executive officer of, Daralkuchi Group of Companies and all its ventures since April 2005. As the CEO and chief strategist for both organisations, she successfully developed detailed business startup plans, developed and implemented business models that she had used for over three start-up businesses.
At Kuchi & Associates, she was the driver of commercial and corporate legal consultancy, good governance advocacy, banking, and finance regulations and management consultancy. She was an ADR consultant and trainer, a chartered mediator & conciliator, and chartered associate member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. Also, she is an associate member, Conflict Management and Leadership Training Institute, Calgary, Canada. She sits as a neutral on the Panel of Neutrals at the Abuja Multi-Door Court.
Areas of expertise are, but not limited to, commercial and corporate legal consultancy, good governance advocacy, banking and finance regulations and management consultancy. She is currently a PhD student in conflict analysis & resolution at Arlington Campus, George Mason University, USA.
She is a goal- and result-oriented person. She loves challenges and was part of dynamic agencies, committees and organisations with growth as a mission.
PROF. RUQYYATU AHMED RUFAI: Prof. Ruqyyatu Ahmed Rufai is the minister of education. She hails from Jigawa State and attended Bayero University, Kano (BUK), where she obtained a B.Ed in History in 1981 and M.A and a Ph.D in Education from West Virginia University, USA, in 1991. She became a professor in 2003.
As minister of education, she has set up a special team to work out modalities for a four-year strategic plan to address the problems in the education sector. Also under her, the ministry has commenced construction of 58 schools for the almajiri in northern Nigeria using funds from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund. Similarly, with funds from Universal Basic Education Commission, the ministry has a programme in place for training of teachers aimed at capacity building, courtesy of the National Teachers Institute (NTI) and UBEC. In spite of all the orchestrated interventions to salvage the education sector and bring it to the desired standard, the centre is yet to hold in this all-important sector. This is making a huge demand on Prof. Rufai, who has been on the ministerial seat for some time now, to employ her feminine might to save the sector from further deterioration.
OLOYE OLAJUMOKE AKINJIDE:
Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide is the minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). She was born on August 4, 1959. She holds a bachelor of Law (LLB) degree and master of Law (LLM) which she obtained from the University of London and Harvard Law School, USA, respectively.
Olajumoke was a principal partner at NEWMAN LEGAL, a Law firm based in Lagos and Abuja. She was also the former managing partner, Akinjide and Co., where she served as the head of Energy Law department and later as head, Company Law department. For Abuja to attain its lofty master plan, much is expected of women around Jonathan like Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide. As at now, the capital city is still faced with many problems ranging from environmental to transport and power.
PROF. MRS VIOLA ADAKU ONWULIRI
She is a professor of Biochemistry and also the minister of state for foreign affairs. She was born on June 18, 1956, in Lagos. She hails from Amuzi in Ahiazu LGA of Imo State. She attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), where she obtained a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry in 1979.
In politics, Prof. (Mrs) Onwuliri is very daring. She was a deputy gubernatorial candidate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State in 2011. She was the award winner, Most Outstanding Female Minister of the Year 2012 which was organized by the Leading Edge Group in conjunction with Dubai Quality Group.
Having excelled in academics and still excelling in politics, her major challenge in this ministry is the enormous task of improving Nigeria's battered image on the international scene. DR PRECIOUS KALAMBA GBENEOL:
Dr Precious Gbeneol, the senior special assistant to the president on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is a woman of substance. And it is not an understatement to say that she has a stake in the administration of the country. Not because she is the SA to the president on MDGs, but because she also decides what happens in some quarters; she has the president's ear.
Gbeneol heads one of the most innovative schemes of using national resources for local government development. She was born on August 28, 1966, to the family of Sampson Sekidika from Walga local government area of Rivers State. She was admitted to the University of Port Harcourt to study Medicine in 1984. She decided to complete a BSC in Pharmacology in 1988 before proceeding to complete her medical degree in 1991. She did her housemanship at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital between 1991 and 1992.
HAJIYA ZAINAB MAINA:
Needless to say, Hajiya Zainab Maina, FCIA, MFR, the minister of women affairs, is a member of this class of women. Born on August 7, 1948, Maina hails from Adamawa State in north-east Nigeria. She was educated at a foremost Nigerian polytechnic, the Kaduna Polytechnic, where she obtained a diploma in Administration and higher national diploma in Catering and Hotel Management.
In the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Maina holds sway as part of the think-tank: she is a member, PDP Elders Committee; member, PDP Board of Trustees; executive director, women affairs, of the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign (2010);member, PDP Presidential Electoral/Screening Committee (2010);national women representative, PDP Presidential Campaign Council (2007); delegate, National Political Reform Conference (NPRC), 2005;women's representative, PDP Reconciliation Committee on the Executive/Legislative Impasse (2002); and international convener, Home Economics and Consumer Affairs International Council of Women (ICW) Bangkok, Thailand (1993).
MRS CHINELO ANOHU-AMAZU:
Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu is unquestionably the youngest director-general in the entire federal public service. Anohu-Amazu, who hails from Anambra State, is currently the acting director-general of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).
The appointment, according to the findings of the Economic Confidential, came following the expiration of the tenure of the chairman and executive members of the agency in December 2012. A directive from the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Senator Pius Anyim Pius, then ensured that, as the most senior general manager in the commission, she should take over the affairs.
A key player in pension reform, Mrs Anohu-Amazu was part of the team of experts that midwifed the Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria.
At 40, Mrs Chinelo Anohu-Amazu is unquestionably the youngest director-general in the entire federal public service in Nigeria.
MS. ARUNMA ONYEJIUWA OTEH
Ms. Arunma Onyejiuwa Oteh has been Director-General at Securities and Exchange Commission since December 2009. She served as the Vice president of Corporate Management and Corporate Services of African Development Bank (ADB) and has over 16 years of experience in the capital market.
Ms. Oteh served as a non-Executive director of AMCOM, Inc and also a member of Advisory Board at Africa Investor Ltd. Oteh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a first class honours degree in computer from the University of Nigeria.
MRS OMOBOLA JOHNSON Mrs. Omobola Johnson is the Minister of Communication Technology. She holds a bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Manchester and also a Masters degree in Digital Electronics obtained from king's College, London .
Johnson has held several appointments. She once served as the country's Managing Director of Accenture Company in Nigeria beginning from 2005. She later became the Director and Head of the financial services operating group in Nigeria. She also served as an independent Director of Diamond bank Plc from August 2010 to July 2011.