Being a woman is not a limitation; rather it is an opportunity to live as a man with a uterus. It is a call to do all that men can do and more, it is to live boldly, a lot of it! Every woman is pregnant with possibilities and can give birth to potentials that will transform lives and impact nations!

Have you ever thought of yourself or found yourself in the limelight of prominence and great success? If you have ever painted this picture in your mind, you will agree with me that it doesn’t take much to be a great success; just a little out of the ordinary every day.

We have women who have improved their development capacities and contributed to the growth of the countries. One such woman with a refined reputation and great prestige is Obiageli Ezekwesili. This powerful and influential woman has a BA from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; She is a Chartered Accountant from Nigeria and one of those who have brought a positive transformation to the world at large.

With a Master of Law and International Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, Oby is a teacher of excellence and influence. She is a woman to learn from if you really want to stand out.

Obiageli Ezekwesili is an exceptionally gifted woman with commendable accomplishments. She first worked with Deloitte & Touche as a consultant. While there, he handled the audit of the organization, controlled business affairs, and was vitally involved in other financial services of the organization. He is such a transparent person that he co-founded the global anti-corruption group Transparency International. For five years, she held the position of director of this group based in Berlin, Germany.

Oby is not afraid of work, he showed it when he went to work with Professor Jefferey Sachs at the Harvard Center for International Development. She worked as Director of the Harvard-Nigeria Economic Strategy Program. Although fully engaged and busy, she cared about the interests of her country and served as an assistant to the first president of the Fourth Republic of Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo.

As time passed, she was formally elected to a job in the Presidency. He accepted the position of Senior Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Oversight and Price Intelligence. While serving in this capacity, he acted as the leader of many institutional reforms. It did so through the act of establishing due process mechanisms and strategies. The great job he did in this position earned him the nickname, Lady of due process. She competently led a team of other experts and ensured that government procurement legislation, NEITI legislation, and new minerals and mining legislation were properly enforced.

This noble woman married to Pastor Chinedu Ezekwesili served as Minister of Solid Minerals, now Mine and Steel Development for twelve months. It initiated a viable reorganization and upgrade program that helped Nigeria become a recognized and credible mining investment destination. He stopped at nothing to succeed and achieve a national transformation; he also spearheaded the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. He showed his transparency even further by leading the first national implementation of the universal ideals and ethics of transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector.

This mother of three children rejected any limitation. He accepted the challenge of heading Nigeria’s most sensitive ministry, the Federal Ministry of Education. She served as the Honorable Minister of the Federal Ministry of Education for ten wonderful months. As Minister of Education, she changed the basic structure of the ministry to focus primarily on achieving education for all. She went beyond setting goals to improve the Millennium Development Goals in education.

One cannot talk about the provision of services in the Nigerian education sector without mentioning this honorable woman. It initiated modern educational standards such as public-private partnership models for the provision of educational services. She brought about significant changes that improved the Federal Inspection Service. This positive-minded leader brought transparency and accountability mechanisms for better budget governance to the public’s mind.

Ms. Ezekwesili is truly a personality to learn from; the establishment of the initiatives of Innovation and Vocational Business Institutions is a merit of her. These initiatives that focus on developing skills for economic competitiveness have provided many of the competitive advantages needed to achieve greater achievement. She is really a Guiding light; its influence is quite amazing. It extended its sphere of influence to the Nigerian Stock Exchange and got them to partner with it in the launch of Adopt a school program that fosters love for all humanity by corporations, community groups, and individuals.

In 2007, the United Nations Bank appointed Obiageli Ezekwesili as Vice President of the Africa Region of the World Bank. He supervised the activities of more than 1,600 officials and ensured that the implementation of projects, economic and sectoral work in forty-eight Sahara countries were a success. Its impact and uniqueness drew praise and praise from the mouths of many. She is a worthy and inspiring woman of honor. He served notably at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. She stood tall and is still doing it on the local and international stage of successful impact to date.

Obiageli Ezekwesili is an influential woman, who has left an impression of her success on the male-dominated platform. Its high quality and distinctive features have caught the attention of great influencers around the world. He is a member of the board of Bharti Airtel; he sits on the boards of directors of the World Wide Fund for Nature and of the School of Public Policy of the University of Central Europe. His distinguished economic policies are mind-blowing! This has attracted organizations such as the Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy, New African Magazine, and The Center for Global Leadership, Tufts University to leverage their specialized knowledge. She is a member of the board of these organizations.

Crowns of honor and everyone wants to identify with it. The personal integrity of Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili set her apart and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science by the Abeokuta Agricultural University in Nigeria. Inspiring Curriculum vitae If you ask me! I am sure you agree with me that Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili is a woman of excellence and positive influence.

She is a woman to learn from and stand out greatly. You too can be like her! She is like many of us; his first degree and his first master’s degree were even in Nigeria. Who said you can’t reach that height you’ve dreamed of? What is hindering your movement? Turn that obstacle into a stepping stone and move towards the higher life assigned for you, dear woman! That standing ovation may be for you!

I feel very privileged to have worked with this woman of unique substance; I was one of his administrative officers at the Ministry of Development of Mines and Steel: where he taught us to make the earth work for us and I dare say that she is a truly distinguished woman. It has this unique way of bringing everyone together without anyone feeling left out in any way! She is someone whom many love, admire and respect, although with some dislikes but definitely none ignored her; he sure knows how to make his mark.

I remember that during one of the workshops we had, everyone dressed the same with jean pants or skirts and a T-shirt; It would be difficult to differentiate between junior and senior staff. During the tea break, I was exchanging compliments with someone and that’s why I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going until I accidentally bumped into someone, stepped on it, and looked up to apologize; I found out that it was Madam minister, as we called it then: Dr. Ezekwesili herself! Instead of being offended, he reached out to hug me so I didn’t fall and even when I found my voice and apologized, he said: okay now, can we move on to the next session?. I was in awe and truly inspired by its simplicity, authenticity, and ingenuity.

She is an entrepreneur, one that I admire so much and one that I believe every woman needs to follow.

Dear woman, everything you need for that beautiful life and for those dreams of yours to come true lies within you, go within and take them out. It has nothing to do with the name of the school you attended, the place where you grew up, or the level of education and exposure of your parents; as good as these are, but they are not all there is. Reach in and extract that unique potential, with it you can be anything and achieve a lot!

There is really nothing that is impossible, yes, everything is possible. So go girl!

Copyright, Jaachynma Agu