Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar, UNICAL, Professor Florence Obi, said Nigeria would see more positive changes if women are given leadership positions.
She said this at the weekend in Calabar, during the First National Conference and Roundtable of the Association of Female Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the two-day conference, which started on Friday, had as theme: “Female Leadership in Higher Education Governance: Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges”.
She said when the nation elects two or three female governors, everyone would see the difference, adding that women are good managers of human and material resources.
The vice chancellor noted that she is not referring to women that lack capacity, but those who merited the opportunity and were discriminated against because of their gender.
According to her, the conference became necessary for them to mentor young women in education, governance and also encourage them to aspire to any position they desire in academics, politics and other spheres.
“Higher education governance has been in the hands of men since the days of University College, Ibadan, and as at today, only about 40 women have been given the opportunity to lead institutions of learning, since the inception of university education in Nigeria.
“From inception, we have had close to 500 or more men head such institutions. So, now that for the first time we have 24 women serving as vice chancellors, we taught it wise to mentor other women to aspire for greatness”, she said.
The vice chancellor said being a female leader in a Nigerian university comes with peculiar challenges, as some men do not believe that a woman should be on top.
She noted that they would also use the opportunity to network among themselves, which would open up more opportunities for women.
On her part, Chairperson of the conference, Professor Lilian Salami, added that women are dogged and gradually many organisations are picking them to lead.
The chairperson, who is the vice chancellor, University of Benin, UniBen, said the conference would also serve as a ground where women in academics will get encouraged.
She said sharing experience is a significant method in mentoring more women to aspire to get to the peak of their educational pursuit.
“We will share experiences to help other women surmount their challenges in their institutions.
“The communique of this conference will not just end on the shelves, but would be used for the development of universities”, she said. NAN
