The general notion about women is that they are the weaker sex. To the men the dominant philosophy is that women bring to bear that tendency of weakness in virtually everything they do. To further justify that notion many people further insist that the birth of a baby girl takes a longer time and process to arrive into the world, that is why most women who give birth to baby girls will always tell you that a baby girl take a longer time to be born than their baby boy counterparts.
There are other factors that seem quite strong and add to the belief that women are indeed the weaker sex. When you place a girl child side by side with her twin brother, as they grow up together, one will discover that the strengths the two manifests are not usually equally balance. The boys are always noted for their greater strength and power. I once told us in this column that my seventeen year old son can lift a 50kg gallon of water, kerosene or fuel without much sweat but the mother that gave birth to him finds it absolutely difficult to engage in such activities. The day I tried it, I know what my experience was like. Any day you see me, you can ask me what it was like, this piece certainly does not have such space as to contain the story.
There is equally no doubt that men have the strength and grace to face certain challenges of life more than women. For instance, I still have not seen that woman who is strong enough to do the work of a mortician but men do. I have not also seen any woman who has climbed an electric pole to fix or disconnect electric wire. May be I am wrong but really I have not seen. There are countless jobs which men do that women cannot dare. These we all know and it won’t pay us well to spend precious space here to argue over.
However, beyond the tough and strong activities men engage in, there are also tougher ones which women engage in and still pull through to my greatest amazement. One of such tough situations include the journey in the labour room. Have you ever witnessed a woman who is in labour before? Yes! You may have seen one or two but outside the labour room. May I tell you here that the struggle outside the labour room is mild compared to what is obtainable inside the labour room. If a woman is in labour, once she is taken inside the labour room the fight, struggle, agony and pain have no comparison. No man has ever watched his wife go through such pains uptill the moment of pushing the baby out without having respect for his wife. This is because it takes so much courage to pass through that route. The truth is that once a woman is on the delivery table the chances of survival are usually a fifty-fifty thing. Amazingly, this supposedly weaker sex will bear all the pains all the way until her baby cries into the world. I must confess that it is only the heavens that have the capacity to interpret the secret of the strength a woman displays during child birth.
Sometimes in my quiet moments, I wonder why women are categorized as the weaker vessels. Peradventure it could be because of the tears they display most times as a way to show that they disapprove of any given situation. Underneath those streams of water that flow down their cheeks are great strength and power. When a woman cries, it doesn’t mean that she cannot engage in physical combat to tackle a given situation. Rather what she seems to say through those tears is that nature has made her strong through being soft. She is also saying that she is a queen who is soft and tender but strong at heart!! The strength of her heart is what pushes those tears to stream out. So even when she cannot engage in physical fights through her tears, tenderness of her heart yet she tells the world subtly that she is surely strong but can only express such worries about life through this means. So beneath every woman’s tears, tender and soft touch lie great powers. With such powers some have pulled down mighty men both in the bible and in our present generation.
Through their inner strength a lot of women have stood as strong pillars in their husband’s careers, children’s upbringing, home keeping etc. with this inner strength, a lot have subdued their enemies and have come back home with dozens of trophies to the amazement of the whole world. Have you forgotten Deborah of the bible who led a war and conquered? In her time, she doubled as a judge and a peace maker to her people. She had other wonderful attributes too numerous to mention.
Think of our own dear Professor Dora Akunyili, may God bless her wonderful soul. She stood her grounds against all odds and stopped to a large extent the manufacturing and the importation of fake drugs when she was the Director General of NAFDAC. Her inner courage is rare in the world. She had to over look the temptations by money-bags for them to continue in their evil dealings in fake drugs.
This woman of courage stood out and contained all their antics as well as stopped the importers of fake drugs right in their tracks. It takes the strength of a woman to achieve that. It is only few men of our time that can match the strength which our Late Dora exhibited in her own time. May her gentle but strong spirit rest in the bosom of our Lord. Amen.
Women who are company Chief Executives and Directors, researches have shown, are usually firm in ensuring that the right things are done. These days, there have been agitations from women all over the world that they should be given a pride of -place in leadership. When you encounter a woman in politics, in academics, in the military, etc, there are always testimonies of excellence attending their engagements in these areas. This is because wherever women are found and in whatever activities they are engaged in most woman usually display unparalleled commitments and excellence except the few bad eggs among them. That is understandable because among every twelve there will always be a Judas.
The 2015 election is by the corner and party Faith full’s have been expressing their interests in one elective position or the other. Some are angling for the presidential ticket others for the governorship tickets, some for the Senatorial seats, some for the federal house, others as L.G.A Chairmen And some as representatives of their state constituencies. The men are everywhere seeking to get attention for one position or the other. The big question is: Are these men looking at the direction of their women folk, especially those who have also expressed interests in some of the aforementioned positions? How far have our men reasoned it out with their women folks in this regard and assess the women’s interest on the basis of readiness and capabilities of the women? Women should be considered not just as women but as people who are as qualified as the men and people who can deliver. Infact, all Nigerian should subscribe to the Jonathan Government’s policy of 35 percent affirmative action for women in political positions.
May I kindly use this medium to appeal to our men in polities to please give women who are credible, tested and trusted the chance to serve their father land in any position they have expressed their interest. If a women is in power and she brings to bear on her seat of power all the wonderful virtues God has endowed her with you will discover that they usually perform better. I dream for a day when women will be given the chance to be the president that Nigeria really needs and the Governors of this country. I can hear someone telling Nina “we do not have that grace yet”. I pray that God should give our men the grace to give more women chance to manifest their leadership prowess in this country. I believe that when they do, certainly our society will fair better. Remember when you train a man you have trained one person but when you train a woman you have trained a whole nation. Give the fairer sex a chance.
God’s Grace to our men.
