Four Nigerian women made the 2018 BBC ‘100 women’ list which celebrates the inspiring and influential women who have used their positions to spark actions in the review year.
Representing Nigeria on the list are Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, who appeared alongside social entrepreneur/activist, Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, lawyer, Bola Tinubu and award-winning blogger and author, Chidera Eggerue.
In 2017, the BBC women ranking had only two Nigerians – singer, Tiwa Savage and tech prodigy, Anne-Marie Imafidon.
This year, the list featured women around the world between the ages of 15 and 94 from more than 60 countries including Mohammed, Ajayi-Akinfolarin, Tinubu and Eggerue from Nigeria.
Amina Mohammed, 57, who is vocal about women’s empowerment and gender equality, told BBC that women 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.
On Ajayi-Akinfolarin, BBC wrote, “Abisoye is the founder of GirlsCoding, a non-governmental organisation that teaches girls how to code, design and build websites that help solve problems in their communities.
The 33-year-old tech entrepreneur, who was recently named one of CNN’s ten heroes of 2018, is a women’s right activist fighting to balance the gender gap in science and technology.
Meanwhile, BBC honoured the 51-year-old Tinubu for her work in corporate law, especially in establishing the first free children’s helpline in Nigeria.
Also, 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.
Chelsea Clinton, vice-chair of the Clinton Foundation, and Senegalese-born Fatma Samoura, first female FIFA secretary general, were also included in the list.