By DADA AYOKHAI
The chairperson of the Edo State chapter of the National Association of Women Journalists in Nigeria, Adesuwa Ehimuan recently stole the show at an award presentation ceremony held at the lush Savannah Suite Hotel in Area 3, Garki, Abuja.
Ehimuan was given an award of excellence by the Abuja-based Advanced Management Academy.
The award presentation ceremony was the high point of the two-day conference organised on April 27th and 28th by the Academy to mark the International Women’s Day celebration, held every year on March 8 to draw the world’s attention to the plight of women as well as the critical role the they play in the wellbeing of the society
The Abuja Conference drew attendance from selected top ranking female professionals who have excelled in their various chosen fields of human endeavour.
The category of the award conferred on Ehimuan fell under the Outstanding Career Achievement award. She was nominated for the award based on her extraordinary contributions in advocating equal and fair treatment for the women folk while also drawing attention to their lights as well as the bigotry around issues affecting the women folk, particularly in a patriarchal society that deliberately subjugates them to sub-human treatments
She also championed the cause for the well-being of women journalists in the country, and women’s inclusion in politics and is a major source of a push to budding female professionals who regard her exemplary leadership style and dogged pursuit of her beliefs as something to latch onto in a male-dominated society.
In a lecture delivered by the special guest speaker, Mrs. Jeanne Clark, a former spokesperson for the United States Embassy in Abuja, enumerated the enormous powers innate in the female gender and stressed the need for such qualities to be properly harnessed and appropriately deployed for the general well-being of the society
Mrs. Clark posited that professional women in leadership positions, not minding their field of specialization should lead the charge for greater women’s participation in development using all the available tools of communication at their disposal.
The Conference theme was: “Embrace Equity: Strategies for Action” which was specially designed for the women CEOs, senior managers, professional women, senior staff members in both the public and private sectors, female lawmakers, and.the heads of departments
Some of the special guests of honour who graced the Conference were Ms. Kachollom Daju, Mni, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment; Dr. (Mrs.) Ajani; and, Mrs. Magdalene Nwanwuche, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transportation
Others included Mallam Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, Fellow and President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR; Comrade Muhammed Ibrahim Haruna, FNIPR and also President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU.
