A review of the events of the year 2020 in Nigeria, cannot be complete without remarkable happenings around the women. The Tide’s Women Desk takes a look at scenarios of events involving Nigerian women within the year under review.

Prof (Mrs) Blessing Esuru Ahiauzu was recently on the news for a good reason.This time, she has broken a record as the only person and woman to become a Professor of Library and Information Management in Rivers and Bayelsa States.
Prof (Mrs) Blessing Esuru Ahiauzu, who incidentally is the wife of the former Vice Chancellor of the then Rivers State University of Science and Technology, now Rivers State University,Prof Augustine Ahiauzu, was the lecturer, at the 67th inaugural lecture of the institution.
The distinguished audience at the occasion intermittently applauded and poured encomiums on her for her astuteness and brilliance, and the fact that she is the first Professor of Library and Information Management in the institution, made the honour conferred on her by the university at the event most significant.
No doubt, Prof Blessing Ahiauzu who rose from the ranks as a university Librarian from 1979 to 2017 to get to her current level, could not have achieved this great feat without hard work, humility, dedication and wisdom.
On his part, former Governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia, who congratulated Prof Blessing Ahiauzu on her achievements, emphasised the need for awareness campaign on the importance of Library and Information Management to be taken to the grassroots Generation Equality.
The Government of Nigeria and UN Women launched the Generation Equality campaign in Nigeria. The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, declared the campaign officially launched in the presence of a high-level UN delegation including UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed.

Amina Mohammed
Dignitaries at the launch included the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare; Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas; Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU), Ms. Hanna Tetteh; Assistant Administrator, Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa; UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Edward Kallon; Chief of Staff to the Deputy Senate President, Dr. Otive Igbuzor; British High Commissioner to Nigeria, H.E. Catriona Laing; Australian Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Claire Ireland; Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E. Carl Michael Grans and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Norway in Nigeria, H.E. Ingrid Skjølaas.
UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Comfort Lamptey introduced the campaign: “The Generation Equality campaign is rooted in a journey that began 25 years ago in Beijing, China when 189 countries gathered to adopt what is considered the most ambitious blueprint for women’s empowerment and gender equality to date – the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, with its 12 critical areas of concern. Today, 25 years later we have a chance to take stock of progress and also to chart a new path forward. It is in doing so that we launch the Generation Equality campaign.”
Women in End SARS campaign
Very fresh in our memories, is a leading role played by Nigerian Women in the recent past #EndSARS movement against police brutality and government violence in Nigeria, specifically seeking to abolish a federal police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. One nascent women’s group in particular, the Feminist Coalition, has used digital platforms to mobilise funds and design strategies to support protesters across Nigeria.
The Feminist Coalition’s work in the #EndSARS movement continues a long history of women leading and supporting political mobilizations across Africa. In July, Damilola Odufuwa and Odunayo Eweniyi, both under 30, formed the Feminist Coalition activist group alongside 12 other young women. The group advocates equality for women in Nigeria through a focus on advancing education, financial freedom and representation in public office. Based in Lagos, the group uses online platforms for its work.
The Feminist Coalition gained popularity when it took on a central role in the #EndSARS protests just two months later. It raised and managed funds for the movement, established a legal aid service made up of volunteers, and coordinated help lines to align efforts across the country.

Ndidi Nwosu
Ndidi Nwosu:
March 1, 2020, saw the end of a 40- year old Owerri-born Nigerian female powerlifter and Paralympic champion, Ndidi Nwosu, who became a professional powerlifter in 2008. Ndidi Nwosu won gold in the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games which took place in Australia, where she sustained an injury that affected her spine and incapacitated her the rest of her life in spite of the series of surgery she had.
She gave up the ghost on March 1, 2020, led to her having different surgeries in Owerri, Imo State Nigeria.
Okonjo – Iweala
10 June – The World Trade Organisation accepts the nomination of two-time Nigerian minister Okonjo-Iweala as its Director-General.The global economy faces profound uncertainties, particularly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, faith in the efficacy of international bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been weakened by a power struggle between China and the US.
As the process for appointing a new head of the organisation moves into its final phase, it is hoped that front runner Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala posseses the wherewithal to manage the international organisation, including designing and implementing reforms.
As the first woman and African to head the trade body, Okonjo-Iweala has shattered a couple of ceilings at the same time. She also has a chance to put Africa’s plans to build the world’s biggest free trade area on the top table, pointing to the productive and market opportunities on the continent.

Shafkat Bose Adewoyin
Shafkat Bose adewoyin:
The nation was thrown into a sorrowful mood as the news of the death of a renowned actress, Shafkat Bose Adewoyin, hitted the news wave on June 23, 2020. Shafkat Bose Adewoyin, was a Nigerian Nollywood actress. She was best known for her role as Madam Tinubu in Efunroye Tinubu. Adewoyin played in stage plays like ORÍ (Destiny) and as “Mama Oni” alongside Adebayo Salami in Funke Akindele’s Omo Ghetto.

Tolulope Oluwatoyin Sarah Arotile
Tolulope Oluwatoyin Sarah Arotile:
A notable event in the women circle that can’t be forgotten in a hurry, in the year under review, is the death and burial of a 24- year old Oluwatoyin Sarah Arotile, on July 14, 2020.Oluwatoyin Sarah Arotile, born December 13, 1995, was not just the youngest female helicopter pilot, she was the first-ever female combat helicopter pilot in the Nigerian Air Force.
According to Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Ibikunle Daramola, Arotile died on 14 July 2020 as a result of head injuries sustained in a road traffic accident at the Nigerian Air Force Base in Kaduna State, when she was inadvertently hit by the vehicle of a former Air Force Secondary School classmate who was trying to greet her.
Arotile was described as courageous, patriotic, nationalist and a role model for Nigerian youth.

By:  Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi