The African Continent and her culture is just like breathing in and breathing out. You will scarcely visit an African country and not find them rubbing their culture right in your face in a way that you cannot but admire.
The centrality of culture to the African society is one of the major reasons the patriarchal system is so pervasive, and this would have been something that we all could ignore if we did not have almost equal number of men as women or if women have not demonstrated the unparalleled and priceless value they bring to the table . Equality amongst both gender should not be something to be fought and campaigned for but here we are…
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many employees lost their jobs, but the higher percentage were women. The reasons for this are varied ranging from being laid off because they got pregnant as a single woman, to being denied opportunities of value because they are female, the list is endless and so are the instances.
A very recent one though is the Nigerian Policewoman who got laid off because the law supposedly states that she is not fit to serve as an unmarried pregnant woman.
This is even more concerning seeing that it is a government agency with policies backing such level of “disempowerment” for women. (You can read more on my opinion as regards this below)
https://punchng.com/nigerian-laws-need-amendment-to-help-women-in-business-kehinde-peters/
While we keep pushing for the reform of laws and cultural practices that sideline and undervalue women, the onus is on us as individuals, organizations and corporations to intentionally empower women especially in professional fields and entrepreneurship, this is a major way to secure the future of the African society.