By Teddy Nwanunobi
Abuja (Sundiata Post) — No less than 11 Nigerian females have been nominated into nine out of 12 categories of the second edition of the New African Woman magazine’s ‘New African Woman Awards 2017’ scheduled to hold in Dakar, Senegal, on 12 and 13 April.
Leading the pack of the Nigerian nominees is funny-bone six-year-old girl student and pupil of the Perfect International School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State comedian, Emmanuella Samuel, who is nominated into the New African Woman on the Rise category.
Other Nigerian women, who made the 68 groundbreaking women’s final list, are the immediate past Minister of Environment, and the newly appointed Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, who was nominated into two different categories — New African Woman in Politics and New African Woman of the Year.
Mohammed
Mohammed is nominated into the New African Woman of the Year category alongside fellow Nigerian and novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, was nominated into the New African Woman in Civil Service category; Joan Okorodudu was nominated into the New African Woman in Arts & Culture category; while the duo of Uche Pedro and Zain Ejiofor Asher made the New African Woman in Media category nominations.
Bola Adesola made it into the New African Woman in Finance category; Unoma Ndili Okorafor made the cut for the New African Woman in Education category; while the duo of Jessica Matthews and Ola Orekunrin completed the Nigerian nominations for the New African Woman in Science category.
The final nominees for the much-anticipated New African Woman Awards 2017 followed weeks of public nominations from across the continent and its Diaspora.
Adichie
The Nigerian nominees will now join the final list of other African females, which will now be adjudicated by a special panel of judges, and the winners in each category will be announced on 12 April at a Gala Dinner in Dakar.
Somalia’s first female presidential candidate, Fadumo Dayib; Gambia’s doyen of democratic change, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang; South African Olympic gold medallist, Caster Semenya; and her fellow countrywoman, former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, are some of the names that made the final list from the thousands of nominations that were received.
Organised by the pan-African bi-monthly, New African Woman magazine, the Awards – which celebrate and honour exceptional African women, who have made a positive impact and contributions in their communities, and the continent at large, in the past 12 months – will take place on the eve of the New African Woman Forum, which will take place at Dakar’s Terrou-Bi Hotel on April 13.
Emmanuella
The New African Woman Awards and Forum, first held in London in March last year, under the theme “Changing The Game”, were born from the ethos that launched New African Woman magazine nine years ago: to boldly and positively highlight, share and represent African women’s issues, on the premise that women are an indispensable element in Africa’s growth story, and to celebrate the women contributing to that change.
