At The Helm: Nigeria's Female Ministers
From the Second Republic till the present, Nigerian women have been appointed as Ministers, taking charge and empowering the different sectors in Nigeria. Some of them flourished and went beyond to do other exploits, some of their time in service was cut short while some were either controversially removed from office or had allegations trailing them after their time in office.
The Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2011 had the highest number with a total of 13 women out of 41 (31.7 per cent) appointed ministers. The administration with the lowest was the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2003 with a total of 5 women out of 33 appointed ministers (15.1 per cent).
These women have been in charge of finance, education, health, industry, foreign affairs, information, petroleum, environment, transport, science and technology, and women's affairs. These sectors were first dominated by men or didn’t exist for example the Ministry of Women Affairs until the groundwork was laid by women in different regimes.
The first female cabinet minister was Ebun Oyagbola who was appointed Minister of National Planning under the Shehu Shagari administration in December 1979. She held the position until October 1983. The Ministry of Women Affairs was established in 1989 and this was made possible due to the work done by Simi Johnson, the Minister for Social Development and Culture of the second republic, under the Shehu Shagari Administration. The first female Minister of Transport was Kema Chikwe who was appointed under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 1999. She also became the first Minister of Aviation in 2001 under the same administration. The first Minister of Women Affairs was Aisha Ismail and she was appointed in 1999 under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. She held the post till 2003.
The first female Minister of Science and Technology was Pauline Tallen and she was appointed in 1999 under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. She held the post till 2003. The first Minister of Finance was Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and she was appointed under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2003. She held the post till 2006 and she also became the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs in that year. She is also the first Nigerian woman to serve two terms as Finance Minister of Nigeria; initially, under President Olusegun Obasanjo from 2003 to 2006; and secondly, under President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015.
The first female Minister of Education was Chinwe Obaji and she was appointed in 2005 under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. She held the position till 2006 and later went on to become the Professor of International Education at the Voorhees College in the USA in 2007.
The first female Minister of Environment was Helen Esuene and she was appointed under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2006. The post was further expanded to Minister of Environment and Housing in 2007. The first female Minister of Health was Adenike Grange and she was appointed under the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration in 2007. Unfortunately, she was controversially removed from office in 2008.
The first female Minister of Information and Communication was Dora Akunyili and she was appointed under the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration in 2008. She held the post till 2009.
Some of these women have used their office to empower and promote gender equality through various projects. Aisha Ismail, the Minister for Women Affairs in 1999 worked on passing the Child Rights Act in 2003 and Rita Akpan, the Minister for Women Affairs in 2003 presented the second periodic report of this act to the UN committee. She said that after presenting its initial report, Nigeria had made significant progress in implementing the Rights of the Child Convention. Maryam Ciroma, the Minister for Women Affairs in 2005 made The National Gender Policy to be authorized by the Federal Government while she was in power to advance gender equality and children's welfare in the nation. On March 23, 2021, to commemorate International Women's Day in Nigeria, she attended a meeting held by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Iyom Josephine Anenih the Minister for Women Affairs in 2010 was one of the founding members of the Women Foundation Nigeria (WFN), a group that supports Nigerian women in discussing issues affecting women throughout the world and promoting the advancement of women in politics. She is a participant in the Gender Electoral and Constitutional Memoranda Committee, whose mission is to include the viewpoints of women in Nigeria's electoral laws and changes.
To honor the memory of more than 59 women who were killed by the Colonial Masters along Consulate road in Ikot Abasi during the 1929 women’s protest, Helen Esuene, the former Minister of Environment in 2007 constructed an art gallery in her hometown and this serves as a tourist attraction. Oby Ezekwesili the former Minister of Education in 2006 founded the #BringBackOurGirls movement in April 2014 to aid in creating awareness for the Chibok secondary school girls held in Boko-Haram captivity. A total of 276 school girls were abducted by the extremist group from Government Girls' Secondary School Chibok, Borno State North-East Nigeria.
Some of these women had their tenure ended prematurely due to cabinet reshuffling, controversies or allegations of fraud. Those affected by cabinet reshuffling were Halima Tayo Alao (2007-2008), Saudatu Bungudu (2007-2008), Grace Ekpiwhre (2007-2008), Patricia Akwashiki (March-May 2015), Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi (2011-2013), Hadiza Mailafia (2011-2013) and Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa'i (2010-2013).
Kemi Adeosun was removed from office in 2018 due to an NYSC certificate scandal. Adenike Grange was removed from office based on allegedly misappropriating 300 million naira of unspent funds. She was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and stood trial. Other women with cases of fraud are Stella Oduah and Diezani Alison-Madueke.
We can’t talk about the Nigerian Ministry without remembering women like Dora Akunyili who during her time as the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) put together a team of mostly female pharmacists and inspectors and started a war against counterfeit drugs that saw many open-air medicine markets across the country closed down.
This garnered her over 900 awards throughout her career and is reportedly the highest number of awards ever received by any Nigerian. Currently, the Bola Tinubu administration appointed 7 women out of 45 ministers for his administration.