WOMEN WHO MADE NEWS HEADLINES IN 2014

Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison Madueke, made history this year as the first female president of the organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at the 166th meeting of the organisation in Vienna, Austria. She took over from Abdourhman AtaharAl-Ahirish, Libya’s Vice Prime Minister for Corporation. Her tenure takes effect from January 2015 and before the appointment, Diezani was the alternate president of the organisation.

In sports, Sapele-born Blessing Okagbare stole the show with her new Commonwealth record of 10.85secs at the 100m final of the 2014 Commonwealth games in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition, she won the 200m final race in the same game with a time of 22.25 seconds, thus becoming the fourth woman to win the 100m and 200m at the Commonwealth Games, she also quit spinsterhood as she married her sweetheart, also bagged one of Nigeria's National honours MFR all in 2014.

Former Minister of Education, Obiagelli Ezekwesili, is one woman who stood out during the year. As one of the leaders of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign group, Ezekwesili and her team consistently pressurised the Nigerian government to act more decisively in rescuing the over 250 schoolgirls abducted from their
school dormitory by the Boko Haram sect.
Late Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was a senior consultant at First Consultants Hospital, she saved the nation from the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. She attended to Patrick Sawyer who brought the virus into Nigeria, tests were carried out and as soon as Adadevoh got to know about Sawyer’s status, she carried out further tests to confirm as well as alert government about his condition and its implication for the country if he was not properly monitored. This ultimately curbed the spread of the virus, but Adadevoh like some of her colleagues paid the price with her life.


On the entertainment scene, Project Fame winner Chidinma Ekile was a recurring decimal at show and events. No doubt the songwriter, artist, stage performer and brand ambassador for MTN made a lot of money during the year.

In the political arena, a number of women put in their best contesting at the primaries on different platforms. Mrs Adetokunbo Agbesanwa slugged it out with other men in Lagos guber race, though she lost but she made a statement with her bravery.