Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

By Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

Towards the end of last week, Ope Oriniowo, our Content Editor at Above Whispers rushed over to me with his phone. He wanted to show me a recording of Olori Wuraola Ogunwusi, the wife of His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, making remarks at an Emerging Women’s Forum in Maryland, United States. I listened to parts of her speech, and my heart sank. The major concern emanating from the Olori’s speech was the comment she made about women never being the equal of men because they have different roles. She went on to make more empowering comments about the role and status of women, but the earlier part of her remarks have not gone down well with a lot of people who understand the issues at stake. Ever since he ascended to the throne of his forefathers in December 2015, His Imperial Majesty the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi has demonstrated time and again that he is the kind of leader we need in this generation. Brilliant, progressive, forward looking, peace-loving and uniquely wise, he continues to earn respect as a very important Royal Father in Nigeria. I have met him a number of times, and one of those occasions was when I accompanied my husband on a formal courtesy visit to him at his Ile-Ife court.

I have been so impressed with our new Ooni, that I told some colleagues recently that at the appropriate time, we would need to draft him and other progressive traditional rulers into our advocacy work around women’s issues in the country. So you can imagine my dismay when I heard the Olori’s remarks. The timing and location of her comments were rather unfortunate. First of all, this is a time when progressive movements in Nigeria (made up of women and men) are trying to get the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill passed. Second, the remarks were made at a forum that had been organized to share experiences and views of leaders from around the world. African women have fought very had to be taken seriously at such spaces. African scholars in the American academy had to struggle for respect and recognition for many years. Anyone who is given a platform globally to carry out research, engage in advocacy, teach, or advise needs to do so with the intention of raising the profile of the continent. We cannot, by accident or design, fuel entrenched paternalistic and racist attitudes towards Africa and her people. I am sure that was not Olori Wuraola’s intention, but that speech in Maryland set African (not just Nigerian women) back. If I had the opportunity of talking to Olori Wuraola Ogunwusi before she gave her speech, this is what I would have advised her to say:

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to have been asked to make some remarks at this very important event. I am pleased to be talking about the issue of women and leadership. I come from a part of Nigeria, from Yorubaland in South West Nigeria, where women have a long history of being acknowledged as leaders. One of the most important figures in the history of Ile-Ife, was Moremi Ajasoro. Due to her brilliant mind, willingness to sacrifice herself and her safety in order to save her people, she single-handedly delivered the Kingdom of Ile-Ife from invaders from another land who had been plaguing Ile-Ife for years. If not for Moremi’s leadership, Ile-Ife would have been enslaved for generations. Where we come from, men and women have different roles and responsibilities. The man is acknowledged as the head of the family, and he has the responsibility to protect all those around him and provide for them.

The role of the women is to support their husbands in all ways possible. We however recognize that men and women were created as full human beings in the sight of God. There is a saying in Yoruba, ‘Ori o ju ori’. This can be translated to mean, ‘We are all equal’. Our roles and responsibilities as men and women might be different, but women deserve to be treated as human beings and not property to be acquired, used and disposed of. Even if we once lived in times when the status of women was very poor due to the influence of culture, tradition and religion, we all know that culture is not static. Times change, and so must we. I know many people say that feminism was imported into Africa from the West. It is only those who are ignorant of our history and the role that women played in our societies who would argue that way. We have always had feminists in our society, they did not call themselves that, but they believed that women had rights and should be treated fairly and equally.

For Full Story: http://abovewhispers.com/2016/06/20/loud-whispers-the-speech-olori-wuraola-ogunwusi-should-have-given-in-the-united-states/

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She can be reached at [email protected]