PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

U.S. Embassy Honors IV Alumni Huawa Abubakar with a Lecture on Women and Development in Nigeria

Date: December 6, 2005
Venue: American Corner, Abuja

 “Women and their Role in Nigeria’s Development” was the subject of a lively discussion in a memorial lecture organized by the Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy Abuja in honor of late Hauwa Abubakar who died in the Bellview flight 210 crash on October 22.

Speaking on factors that promote women's’ participation in economic development at the American Corner, Bola Ige Center, Abuja, U.S. Economic Counselor Necia Quast, said her short stay in Nigeria shows that women are the key to development and to unlock the country’s economic potential, educating women and girls should be made a priority.

While gender-based discrimination remains a major obstacle to the Nigerian woman, Quast said micro-credits, and working through cooperative societies in agriculture offer women with the power to make changes and choices about their lives.

Hauwa Maijidda Abubakar was an alumna of the U.S. government-sponsored International Visitor Leadership Program on “Women and Development.” The late Ms. Abubakar was born on January 25, 1964 in Lagos and was a staff of the Chief Bola Ige Information Technology Center, Abuja. Andrew Sani-Ikilama, Executive Director, Hope for the Blind, says the best way to honor the memory of Ms. Abubakar was to convert those experiences acquired as a participant of the Fulbright, Hubert Humphrey, or International Visitor’s program into developmental activities that Hauwa held dear during her short but eventful life. Please follow this link to access photos taken at the event.