Four Nigerians Make 2018 BBC ‘100 women’ list

The BBC list celebrates inspiring and influential women who have used their positions to spark actions in the review year.

Four Nigerian women including, Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General have made the 2018 BBC ‘100 women’ list.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General appeared alongside social entrepreneur/activist, Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, a lawyer, Bola Tinubu and award-winning blogger and author, Chidera Eggerue.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that in 2017, only two Nigerian women – singer, Tiwa Savage and tech prodigy, Anne-Marie Imafidon – made the list.

This year, the list featured women around the world between the ages of 15 and 94 from more than 60 countries; including Messrs Mohammed, Ajayi-Akinfolarin, Tinubu and Eggerue from Nigeria.

Fifty-seven Ms Mohammed, who is vocal about women’s empowerment and gender equality, told BBC that females 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.

Speaking on Ms Ajayi-Akinfolarin, BBC wrote, “Abisoye is the founder of GirlsCoding, an NGO 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 rights activist fighting to balance the gender gap in science and technology.

Meanwhile, the BBC honoured the 51-year-old Ms Tinubu for her work in corporate law, especially in establishing the first free children’s helpline in Nigeria. 

Also, Ms 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.