Bisi Fayemi named Woman Leader of the Year

The wife of the Ekiti Governor, Bisi Fayemi and Chairperson of the Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum has been named as the Woman Leader of the Year.

This is contained in a statement issued by Ms Funmi Ajala, Senior Special Assistant (Media) Office of the Wife of the governor on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti.The award was presented to Fayemi at a Gala night to celebrate the inaugural International Women’s Day Awards.

The Gala night was jointly hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, European Union, British High Commission, and the Embassies of the United States of America, Germany and France, to commemorate International Women’s Month.

The Women’s History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society.
The #IWDNaijaAwards is designed to celebrate women’s achievements & recognizes individuals who have championed women’s political and socioeconomic empowerment in Nigeria and beyond. In a statement by the UNDP office in Nigeria:

“Speaking at the event, Fayemi, said that she was extremely honoured and humbled to receive the Woman Leader of the Year Award.

“I am genuinely delighted to be nominated in the company of such great women, all of whom are equally deserving of this prestigious award.

“This award is dedicated to all Nigerian Women. I will like us all to remember that: we are worthy; we are powerful; we have contributed significantly; we are important; we matter.”

Earlier, the UNDP office in Nigeria, said the award seeks to leverage the opportunity of the representation of 11 key countries in Nigeria by women Ambassadors to advocate for increased women representation in political and governance space.

It also seeks to publicly recognise women empowerment champions, encourage decision-makers and policy makers to ensure adequate space is created for women in the spheres of policy and decision making and advance women’s political and socio-economic empowerment.

The UNDP said aside having women in senior positions in the UN and other multilateral organisations, Nigeria is also fortunate to have women ambassadors in; the Republic of Benin, Burundi, Colombia, Cuba, European Union, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, UK and the U.S.

Our correspondent reports that Fayemi is a globally renowned feminist writer, policy advocate, gender and development specialist, and social entrepreneur.

In 2001, she co-founded the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), a foundation which has supported the work of over 4,000 women’s rights organisations in 42 African countries, including Nigeria.

In her role as the wife of the governor’s wife, she led campaigns to enact laws to protect women and girls from physical, economic, mental or sexual violence and improve their status in the state.

She is a writer and CEO of Above Whispers, an online community for women.

In 2021, she was named amongst 107 Nigerian women “choosing to challenge the systems and structures that perpetuate gender inequality in the country”, by Baobab for Women’s Human Rights.