The question is: Can a woman be in a top position of authority, most especially in Nigeria, for the fourth industrial revolution, to be intently achievable? This question poses a zillion dollar mark on it. It is not only in Nigeria is the question being asked incessantly or limited to, it is also extended to other African countries, except Liberia, when Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was declared president and the first woman to be so elected in an African country. That was on November 23, 2005, although she was not inaugurated until January 16, 2006.

An activist, Aisha Yesufu, is a strong woman and a part of the team of the #RevolutionNow movement for a drastic and radical change in the economy of Nigeria. This woman is a typical example of the calibre of women needed to be part of the revolution for the change we seek around us.

The discussion shall be based on the following:

* How women can be part of the fourth industrial revolution

* Women acquisition of skills for economic development

* How families will be impacted by the fourth industrial revolution and the economic power of women in managing the family.

Women in positions of power are women who hold on to an office that gives them great authority, influence, and/or responsibility. Historically, power has been distributed among the sexes disparately. Power and powerful positions have most often been associated with men as opposed to women. As the clamour for gender equality increases, women are holding more and more powerful positions due to policy and social reform.

Accurate and proportional representation of women in social systems has been shown to be important for the long-lasting success of the human race. Additionally, a study shows that “absence is not merely a sign of disadvantage and disenfranchisement, but the exclusion of women from positions of power also compounds gender stereotypes and retards the pace of equalisation.”

That led to a massive protest a few days back in Ogun State, South-West Nigeria, where certain groups of women came together to demand inclusiveness of women in the cabinet formed by the current governor of that state.

Whereas there are humongous and enormously bogus number of the masculine gender already screened and portfolios assigned to them for certain positions, the women want equal right to be side-by-side the men. This feels like a competitive race where there's none, obfuscating its empirical manifestations like there were no women included earlier in the list of commissioners presented by the governor to the Ogun State House of Assembly for screening.

But they want is equal to the numbers of male on the said list. That is, if there are 30 ministerial positions, it should be 15 apiece, that is, 15 men and 15 women. But in a male-dominated political sphere, I don’t think there can be that perfect possibility equilibrium among the sexes, but there should be a rational inclusion of the women in various positions of authority. The women should always note that to have them in top-notch positions in a country is inextricably intertwined, and only a mix of them, like lime mixed with pineapple, is what they can have.

Furthermore, combinatorics specifically, for a woman to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or become the governor of a state; and it is not only limited to Nigeria alone but in other African countries.

Analytically, we have seen women in other positions like the instance of a deputy governor, ambassadors, etc., and they all performed excellently well in those various offices, except for the thieving former minister of petroleum in Nigeria that stole virtually everything that belongs to the over 200 million Nigerians and kept it all for herself and the enrichment of her family members. If we look at the Diezani Allison-Madueke saga and her being charged to court back and forth, we might want to be a little bit scared of appointing women in juicy positions in Nigeria due to their materialistic nature. When the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned her, her gold accessories and jewellery were confiscated by the commission. That showed women’s high-level of materialism. Well, unfortunately, she’s just being herself and I perceived greatly there are still great women out there with golden hearts and great visions to move the nation forward.

As I wrap this up, I know someday, and some years later, a woman could eventually become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and also governors and even become the Speaker of House of Representative, as currently obtains in the United States of America and, maybe also, Senate presidency assigned to a woman.

Also, can we have our African queens become the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Controller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, and also have a woman become the first-ever Inspector-General of Police, etc.

I strongly believe women are more meek and unbiased in their judgment. From my personal study of women around the world, they can do much better governing and making things right in top positions in a particular country.

We can give just one woman a fair trial to rule, not limiting ourselves to when Dame Virginia Ngozi Etiaba, CON, moved from deputy governor to acting governor of Anambra State, South-eastern Nigeria. In that capacity, she was the first-ever female governor in Nigeria from November 2006 to February 2007. This is not about being hypocritical or a sesquipedalian man giving long sentences to justify my points. No. I am just an advocate of gender equality in Africa, most especially my dear beloved country, Nigeria.

Lastly, people find the presidential post and governorship positions tedious and the office of a service chief, etc., stressful for women and can only be occupied by men. Well, like the old saying: “What a man can do, women can do, too.” We can adopt what happened in Liberia in 2005 when history was made.

Can we give our delectable queens a fair trial?

Moreso, the perception of women as mere sex objects should be changed because our women are strong and are to be more respected in the society; they have more to offer. Women can be part of the fourth revolution by assigning them to strategic positions of power so they can passively and actively participate in the fourth revolution.

Acquisition of skills is very essential for our women to move the economy forward. And their versatility should be tested, not acquiring already popular crafts; the most popular craft they learn these days is fashion designing (tailoring), hairdresser, et al. We want to see our women do better and have more women in other industries not in the already jam-packed ones highlighted above.

A women can become a plumber, bricklayer, painter, welder, etc., to confirm the popular phrase that “what a man can do a woman does it better.” Thus, they can be versatile for an achievable fourth industrial revolution. Women should not be viewed as a baulk but, unfortunately, when you see a woman doing an unusual work they might be a laughing stock in the community they are rendering such services. Imagine a woman digging a well in your neighbourhood: please, tell me how you will react? Because of the suffering and the unusualness to it and we really want women to participate actively in economic activities and all that go with it.

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically and radically changed the face of the world. Families will be impacted greatly in so many ways during the fourth industrial revolution and one of the ways this can happen is by the totemic technological advancement globally, because after the pandemic broke out everything automatically got digitised and business meetings that would have cost a few bucks can just take a click on Zoom, a novel meeting application that has been there for a while and not many noticed until the COVID-19 pandemic came and opened everyone's eyes. Also, through e-commerce, if a potential buyer in Akwa Ibom State requests for pairs of shirt from a boutique owner in Lagos, such a customer don’t have to come down to Lagos to buy the items. He/she can exclusively order them from any social media platform the boutique-owner might have created, and gets the goods delivered to the potential buyer in Eket.

Technology will impact the universe greatly, nothing more nothing less; even women can save up more because it will reduce their stress.

I don’t want to make sense but to pass some sense to make sense in the society and the world at large.

•Mike-Nifty, a public affairs analyst, can be reached via nifty.mics@yahoo.com