Women And National Dev

A woman is an adult of the feminine gender.
Bible refers to the woman as the weaker vessel drawn out from a man.
Clearly defining the duties of a woman in civil societies as raising children, keeping the home, taking care of the husband and extended relatives, it leaves one pounding if that is the limit to which a woman can do things.
In the time of old, women were told not to speak out as the men were always the head and had the final say.
But we hear of women like Esther, Ruth, Deborah, Dora Akinyuli, Mary Slessor who have not let silence to limit their efforts and today their actions speak louder than their names and gender.
A woman can be anything she wants to be if she is given the opportunity, she has the power to rule her world and be fully independent. This is not to say that a woman does not need a man. No a woman can fulfill the scripture of being a help mate to a man.
How can a woman fulfill that assignment if she does not maximize her potential. Naturally, a woman is born for reception. She can bear all things, invariably one can say she is long suffering.
She also has a comforting spirit which sends peace to the mind of a man in times of turmoil. She can make and break with her tongue as it is her greatest weapon.
A woman of determination can not only have a successful home but also be a nation builder.
What do I mean by nation? It is a stable community of people formed on the basis of a common territory, economic life and with a culture. It is also a sovereign  state.
A family is the smallest unit of a nation and the responsibility of keeping a family lies on the shoulder of a woman.
I give credit to all the men who are bread winners. Even the bible recognizes them and curses those who do not fulfill this responsibility. But what is a bread winner if there is no one to store the produce?
That is the spirit. A woman checks for loopholes and fills them.
In national development, a woman is entitled to that responsibility as a councillor, commissioner, governor, president, chief executive officer, managing director and so on.
Permit me to say that women are more reliable in finance management, administration, why because they painstakingly take note of minute details and act accordingly.
Groups like Women in Oil are marked out to develop the woman and help her maximize her innate ability. There, you will see women managing big businesses, small and medium scale businesses, and also in political offices.
We are encouraging our women today because certain sectors need them, some of which are education, information and finance.
Enterprising and business – oriented, a woman has the passion to give out satisfaction and receive the pain, if given the opportunity to serve.
Some of the qualities that would boost national development are honesty, long suffering, foresight, management. Today, one of the problems we face in Nigeria is short sightedness and mismanagement.
In time past agriculture was given credence as a means of livelihood and income generation, but today the story is different as now we are struggling to go back to our roots.
The lack of fore-sight has kept us limited women utilize every raw material in their hands. For instance give a woman an orange, she will use its back for medicine, the seed for planting and the fruit for nourishment; nothing is wasted. She knows the greater use of the orange.
That is why we are encouraging them to break limit and take up greater responsibilities, society should learn to accept them. Hillary Clinton, White House Presidential hopeful is a source of inspiration and motivation to show that women can contribute greatly to the nation’s development.
National development is everyone’s responsibility and should not be narrowed to men alone as our women can also do this. The good news now is that efforts are being made through trainings to better equip women physically, psychologically and financially.
Indeed, there is no gainsaying that women potentialities, when harnessed would engender greater achievement. On the occasion of Womens’ Day, let us all believe in the abilities of a woman, believe in equal opportunity for them and believe in their ability to promote national development.
Okwu is an intern with The Tide.

Kellin Okwu