Leading Influential Women in Government (II)

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Abike Dabiri

Abike Dabiri was born on October 10, 1962. She represented the Ikorodu federal constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives. She was the chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity. She obtained a degree in English from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

She also has a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication and a master’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos. She also studied at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

She was elected for the first time in 2003, and re-elected in 2007 and 2011. She was also the chairman of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs.

 In 2015, she was appointed as the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora

Khadija Bukar Abba

Khadija Bukar Abba was born on January 6, 1967. She represented Damaturu/ Gujba/Gulani/ Tarmuwa federal constituency of Yobe State in the House of Reprersentatives between 2007- 2015. She was made the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016.

The Queen’s College, Lagos graduate attended Headington School, Oxford, after which she obtained a National Diploma in Business and Finance from Pardworth College, Reading, UK. She also bagged BSc in Business Studies and Sociology from Roehampton Institute for Higher Education, an affiliate of the University of Surrey in 1989.

Khadija was the Commissioner for Transport and Energy in Yobe State where her primary responsibility was to oversee energy supply in rural areas and transport networks. In 2006, she was appointed a resident commissioner, Nicon Insurance, Yobe State.

She has received many awards, including the Thisday Woman Distinction Award, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Inspirational Leadership Forum (SATBILA) Award, and Distinguished Leadership Award by The Rotary Club of Maiduguri, amongst others.

Sharon Ikeazor

Born in Anambra State, Sharon Ikeazor is the founder of the Legal Aid for the Poor in Nigeria. She is the newly appointed executive secretary of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). She graduated with an LLB (Hons) in 1984 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985.

She has a 27-year post-graduation experience as a solicitor and advocate and a vast knowledge and experience in the field of business development for foreign multinational companies, project management, banking administration, national and international government liaison. In January 2011, she joined politics and contested and won the post of the national woman leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

After the merger of three political parties in 2013, she emerged the interim national woman leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita

Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, who hails from Cross River State, was born in April 1964. She obtained a BSc degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos. She also holds a master’s degree from the Nasarawa State University.

Oyo-Ita was the Director of Finance and Accounts at the Head of Civil Service of the Federation. President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her as the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation in 2015.

She also served as the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Oyo-Ita is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori

Grace Titilayo Laoye-Tomori is the Deputy Governor of Osun State and also doubles as the Commissioner for Education. She attended the University of Lagos and obtained a degree in History in 1973. She also has a master’s degree in Public Administration. She spent six years at the Federal Ministry of Education (1974-1980). As a deputy governor and commissioner for education, Titilayo has positively impacted on Osun State.

She has received accolades such as The Most Innovative Education Commissioner Award for the South-West zone, organised by the President’s School Debate, Nigeria, an agency of the Federal Ministry of Education. She is also the recipient of the West African Gender Dialogue, in conjunction with the West African Institute for Leadership and Governance; Most Outstanding Female Deputy Governor of the Year 2012. Though, she’s highly fashionable and stylish, her style can be classified as simple.

Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed

Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed is the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning. Previously, she was the executive secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI). She holds a B. Sc degree in Accounting from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and an MBA from the Onabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. She worked in the Kaduna State Ministry of Finance.

She also served in several accounting and public finance management positions in the last 28 years, especially in the telecommunications industry at the time the Nigerian public and the private sector depended solely on NITEL for communication services. From the rank of Deputy General Manager in charge of corporate treasury in 2002, she moved to the Nigeria Mobile Telecommunications as General Manager, Finance in September, 2005 and later became the chief finance officer of MTEL.

She was appointed the Managing Director of the Kaduna Investment Company by the executive governor of Kaduna State in March, 2009 to help the state define, plan and implement an accelerated industrial development programme until 2010 when she was made Executive Secretary of NEITI in October 2010. She is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). She is also a member of the Nigerian Institute of Taxation, as well as the Nigerian Institute of Management. Her fashion style can be defined as simple yet classy.

Sadiya Umar Farouq

Sadiya Umar Farouq, who was born on November 5, 1974, is a politician and business administrator. She is a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). She served as a member of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council during the 2015 presidential election.  She graduated with a BSc in Business Administration (Actuarial Science) in 1998 from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. She also obtained a master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy in 2008 and an MBA in Business Administration in 2011 from the same university.

She served as the national treasurer of the APC from June 2013 to June 2014. She was also the national treasurer of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), one of the four political parties that merged to form the APC. She is currently the commissioner for refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons. She is from Zamfara State.

Chinelo Anohu-Amazu

Chinelo Anohu-Amazu is a lawyer. She got her LL.B from the University of Nigeria in 1996, a B.L from the Nigerian Law School in 1997 and an LL.M in Computer and Communications Law from the London School of Economics in 2000. She also studied in many prestigious institutions such as the Columbia University Graduate School in 2008, the J. F Kennedy School of Government of the Harvard University in 2007 and the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania in 2002.

She is the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM). She has been stepping up her diplomatic efforts in a bid to attract more investors into Africa’s markets and exponentially increase that by targeting the informal sector.

Ipalibo Gogo Banigo

Ipalibo Gogo Banigo was born on December 20, 1952. She is a medical doctor, politician and the deputy governor of Rivers State.

She obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, and attended Harvard University School of Public Health for her master’s degree.

Between 1990 and 1992, she received diplomas in Tropical Hygiene and Dermatology from the University of London.

She is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). She has held a number of positions at the State Ministry of Health, including Director of Public Health Services, acting commissioner, director-general and permanent secretary.

In 1995, she also served as Secretary to the Government of Rivers State before serving as Head of Service of the state.

After retirement from civil service, she continued to provide professional services and was later made a public health adviser of the Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria. She was also the executive director and secretary at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

She is a member of the Governing Board of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, the Rivers State Food and Nutrition Committee, Rivers State Hospital Management Board and Reference.

Yetunde Abosede Onanuga

Yetunde Abosede Onanuga was born in Ibadan on September 11, 1960. She is the deputy governor of Ogun State.

She attended the Federal College of Education, Lagos, where she obtained a Technical Teachers Certificate in Business Education, and the Onabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, where she obtained an MBA in Technology Management.

She contested in the 2015 gubernatorial election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as running mate to Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the incumbent governor.

As a public servant, Yetunde started her career in the services of the Lagos State government in 1983. She rose through the ranks to become the Director of Finance and Administration in the Ministry of Environment before her voluntary retirement in 2014.

She is a member of many professional bodies, including the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered).

Amina Muhammed Bello Shamaki

 Amina Muhammed Bello Shamaki, a medical doctor, was born on 17th April, 1960, in Jega, Kebbi State. She attended Maiyama Primary School and Federal Government College Odogbolu, Ogun and proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where she obtained MB.BS in 1984.

She did her residency at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where she bagged a Fellowship of African College of Surgeons in Radiology in 1996. She also holds a Fellowship of International College of Surgeons, Post Graduate Diploma as well as Masters in Business Administration.

She joined the Federal Civil service in 1987 as a medical officer II at the Military Hospital (Creek), Lagos and became a Consultant Radiologist in 1996. She has risen through the ranks in the health sector and has held several positions.

Dr. Shamaki was appointed Permanent Secretary in October, 2014 and posted to the Special Duties Office of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. In 2015, she was deployed to Federal Ministry. She is the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Monsurat Sunmonu

Monsurat Sunmonu was born on April 9, 1959 in Oyo State. She is currently a senator representing Oyo State.

She went to the UK in 1979, where she attended Holborn Law Tutors for her LL.B. She later attended the London School of Accountancy to qualify for the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

 She later attended Lewisham College for Business in Management Studies. She briefly worked at the National Westminster Bank (NatWest Bank) before taking up employment with the British government.

There, she worked in the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA), as a Detained Case Work Manager, a position she held for over 20 years.

While at the UKBA, she attended various managerial and executive courses and was one of the first Nigerians to be given a “higher security clearance” by the British government.

She later came back to Nigeria to contest for a seat in the Oyo State House of Assembly. And her political career took off.

In 2011, Monsurat contested and won election into the Oyo State House of Assembly on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). She also became the first female speaker in the history of the Oyo State House of Assembly.

In May 2012, she was voted as the deputy chairman of the Conference of Speakers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which consists of the 36 speakers of state Houses of Assembly.

Monsurat always has the passion to render help to the less privileged in the society, especially women. She founded a non- governmental organisation that caters for the economic and social wellbeing of people in Oyo State.

 Part of the activities of MOSWEF is to empower women, children and the less privileged in the state and help them get out of poverty by helping them to build their businesses. Using MOSWEF as a tool, she has sponsored thousands of the less privileged to training courses and providing small loans.

 In 2015, Monsurat contested election to represent Oyo Central senatorial district on the platform of the APC and won, becoming the first female senator to represent the state in the National Assembly.