it is a pleasure to present to you, Nigeria’s first women- a list of Nigeria’s female trailblazers…
1. Captain
Chinyere Kalu is the first female pilot in Nigeria. Capt. Chinyere’s
decision to start a career in Aviation was spurred by her adventurous
aunt, who was also the first woman from her hometown to travel overseas.
She was made a member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in the
2006 National Honours list. In 2011, she was appointed the Rector and
Chief Executive of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT),
which is the largest aviation training institute in Africa
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2. Florence
Nwanzuruahu Nkiru Nwapa (13 January 1931 – 16 October 1993) : was a
Nigerian author best known as Flora Nwapa. Her novel Efuru (1966) is
among the first English-language novels by a woman from Africa. She has
been called the mother of modern African literature and following her
creation of Tata press- is also known as the first African woman
publisher
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3.
Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi was the first female physician in Nigeria.
She earned her medical degree in 1938 from the University of Dublin,
Cafreys College and advanced from junior medical officer at the Massey
Street Hospital Lagos, to chief consultant and Medical Director at that
hospital, holding the latter position from 1960 through 1969. She was
also appointed as a Senior Specialist Gynaecologist and Obstetrician in
1962 by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health
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4.
Chioma Ajunwa is the first African woman, as well as the first
Nigerian, to win an Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. She
performed this historic feat of winning an Olympic gold medal on Friday,
August 2, 1996. On that day, she jumped 7.12 metres at a long jump
event in the 1996 Atlanta games.
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5.
Professor Adetoun Ogunseye is first female Professor In Nigeria. She
attended Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos. At the University of Ibadan
(where she was the first female student), she received the prize for the
best female graduating student and got a scholarship to proceed to
Cambridge. She became a Professor of Library in 1973 and was honoured
with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Nigeria Book Fair Trust in 2012..
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6.Prof.
Grace Alele-Williams was the first Nigerian woman to become the
vice-chancellor of a Nigerian University. She studied at Queens College,
University College, Ibadan and then the University of Vermont, before
receiving a PhD in Mathematics education from the University of Chicago.
It has also been widely circulated that she made history as the first
Nigerian woman to be awared a doctorate. She was a post doctoral
research fellow at the Department of Education, University of Ibadan
after which she was appointed a professor of mathematics at the
University of Lagos.
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7.
On July 16, 2012, Justice Aloma Mukhtar made history by becoming the
first female Chief Justice of Nigeria. She was also conferred with the
National Award of GCON (the second highest honour in the land) by His
Excellency. But Justice Mukhtar is a lady of many firsts. In January
1977, she was made a judge of the Kano High Court. Making her the third
female judge in the history of Nigeria, the first female judge from the
North and being 32 years of age, she was the youngest judge in the
country.
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8. Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili (OFR): First African Female to win Transparency International Integrity Award
Prior
to her ministerial appointment, Prof. Akunyili was Director General of
the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) of Nigeria, where she made it her top priority to eradicate
counterfeit drugs and unsafe food in Nigeria. Before her assumption of
office in NAFDAC, fake and substandard foods and drugs were sold in
Nigeria without any form of regulation.
She was a Senior Lecturer
and Consultant Pharmacologist in the College of Medicine, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu Campus, before she became the NAFDAC boss.
Professor Akunyili was also a Post-Doctorate Fellow of the University
of London and a Fellow of the West African Post-Graduate College of
Pharmacists. She gained international recognition and won hundreds of
awards for her work in pharmacology, public health and human rights. She
was appointed Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Information and
Communications until December 16, 2010.
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9.
Ambassador Adenike Ebun Oyagbola is the first woman to ever be
appointed as a Federal Minister in the history of Nigeria under the
regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. She was also a Nigerian Ambassador to
Mexico
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10.
Blessing Liman is the first female military pilot of the Nigerian Air
Force. On her achievement she has been quoted elsewhere as saying; “As a
first female pilot I would want to make a mark that would encourage
other females to join the military because I believe that all females
have equal opportunity to exercise their rights in whatever they choose
to..”
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11. Agbani Darego: first Nigerian woman to win Miss World
is a former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria best known as the first
native Sub-Saharan African to win Miss World. She has gone on to judge
numerous pageants, and fashion and modelling competitions including Miss
World 2014, Miss England 2002,Mr. Scotland 2002,and Elite Model Look
Nigeria 2012 and 2014. In 2010 she launched a style and fashion reality
show Stylogenic on Nigerian television. Three years laterAgbani showed
us her entrepreneurial side with the launch of her denim range, AD by
Agbani Darego, which includes jeans, dresses, sunglasses and bags. She
also studied Psychology at New York University and graduated in 2012.
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12. Maureen Nkeiruka Mmadu: is the first Nigerian woman to coach Europian club.
is the first Nigerian women’s football coach attached to a top European
club at Avaldsnes. She is a former Super Falcons midfielder and is the
first Nigerian to have played 100 games for the national team
Madu is standing far left.
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13. Professor Remi Sonaiya: is the first woman in Nigeria to seek to become Nigerias President
is the first woman in Nigeria to seek the highest seat in the land
running as the Presidential flag bearer under the Kowa Party at the
recently concluded 2015 Nigerian Presidential Elections. She obtained a
Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Ife (now Obafemi
Awolowo University) graduating with the best result in her faculty and
also received a PhD in linguistics from Cornell University. She became a
professor of French Language and Applied Linguistics in 2001
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