Nonyem Odili, Writing For Change

"Slavery has been abolished. Communism contained ... and yet, an evil persists". With these opening lines in a provocative piece on how and why governments should encourage women’s leadership, Nonyem Odili beat national contestants from 54 countries to win the Commonwealth Women in Leadership Essay Competition 2013

She attended the 10th Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting in Bangladesh, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma presented her with the winning trophy. Miss Odili, a Nigerian based in the UK, impressed the judges with her avid writing prowess, calling on nations and nationalities to promote gender equality and end cultural discrimination against women.

Her winning entry x-rayed the fault lines in humanity's perceptions of women's roles, our pressing need for gender equity, and surmised with an emotive call for "a change of consciousness ".

The grand-daughter of Barrister G.C. Nonyelu (QC), Nigeria's first Director of Public Prosecutions, Nonyem followed in the family footsteps, gaining an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Cardiff.

When she is not working as a Finance Treasurer for a global commodities giant, Nonyem devotes her spare time to developing projects that tackle socio-political issues in her local community, such as unemployment, crime, and social injustice. She believes in being 'part of the solution, not the problem' and loves to collaborate with like-minded people who share her passion for gender equality and women's empowerment.

Her current project 'Eliminating poverty in Nigeria ' focuses on the state of unemployment among Nigerian youths. Nonyem believes strongly that the responsibility to tackle this epidemic does not lie solely with government, but that strategic partnerships and commitments from local corporations and international organisations are also required. She is exploring initiatives to improve the employability of young Nigerians.

Nonyem is a talented and intelligent young woman who believes she has a responsibility to help those around her as much as possible. Her philosophy in life is 'to whom much is given, much is expected'. She intends to leave her world in a better state than she met it.

In an emotive conclusion to her essay, she writes "I am the woman ... whose voice has not been heard ". We beg to differ. To us, Nonyem Odili is many things - a writer with a cause, defender of the voiceless, and a woman of the future. Unequivocally, she is Yaaya.

Image Source | Image is copyright of Yaaya.