Amina Mohammed, Bola Tinubu… four Nigerians make BBC 100 Women list

November 20, 2018 1:51 pm

VELEDICTORY SESSION 3&3B. R-L: The Out-going Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed during the valedictory session for her at the Council Chamber, State House, Abuja, 22nd Feb 2017. Photo; SUNDAY AGHAEZE

Amina Mohammed, United Nations deputy secretary general, and three other Nigerians have been named among BBC’s 100 Women of 2018.

The annual list includes 100 influential and inspirational women around the world.

Chelsea Clinton, vice-chair of the Clinton Foundation, and Senegalese-born Fatma Samoura, first female FIFA secretary general, were included in the list.

Mohammed, who is vocal about women’s empowerment and gender equality, told BBC that females should not be “grateful” for opportunities given them.

“What I want to do is not apologise for being a girl and not to see it as something that is added on… or that we should be grateful for being at the table,” she said.

“What we really need to see is that we have equal rights to those things that allow us to be present and to be effective to be part of society and our economies and we’re not seeing that.”

Chidera Eggerue, Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, and Bola Tinubu were also on the prestigious BBC 100 Women list.

Ajayi-Akinfolarin, a 33-year-old computer programmer, is the founder of Pearls Africa Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that aids disadvantaged girls in Nigeria to gain tech skills.

Eggerue, 27, is a best-selling author and blogger at Slumflower and has been featured in many publications including British Vogue, Elle Uk, The NewYork Times.

Bola Tinubu, 51, is a lawyer, child advocate and founder of the Cece Yara Foundation, an organisation that works to prevent child sexual abuse in Nigeria.