Three (3) winners have emerged for the National Young Women Essay Writing Competition organised by the Nigerian Women Trust Fund under the auspices of She Impact Community and funded by DFID’s Voices for Change Project (V4C). She Impact is a community of individuals, women groups and organisations working to advance women’s leadership and political participation in Nigeria and beyond. The essay was organised to create awareness among young women on the need to participate in civic and political activities and to inspire young women to think up solutions to Nigeria’s leadership challenges that clearly marginalises women.
The essay topic termed “The Dynamics of Participatory Governance: Implications for Young Women in Nigeria” witnessed submissions from hundreds of young women across Nigeria. The essays were marked by seasoned judges who considered organisation, content, grammar and use of language, definition and understanding of the topic, closing arguments as well as referencing.
Happiness Ogbuehi, one of the mentees in the Fund’s Young Women’s Mentorship Program emerged overall winner in the essay competition, closely followed by Ulagh Doris at second place and Victoria Egwunyeche at third place. Prizes were presented to the winners on Friday 7, 2017 by a cross section of the Judges including Dr. Otive Igbuzor – the Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD); Mrs. Anuli Ola-Olaniyi – CEO HEIR; Mrs. Mbafan Akula – Program Manager, GADA; Mrs. Lois Chinedu, V4C; and Women Fund’s CEO Olufunke Baruwa.
The Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund will continue to explore creative ways to increase awareness and engage stakeholders on women’s political participation while inspiring young women to aspire to leadership as we countdown to the 2019 general elections.