March 8 is the day globally picked and recognised to celebrate womanhood and everything it entails. The 2025 movement has been tagged with the theme, Accelerate Action.
In celebration of the 2025 International Women’s Day OSG has decided to put 30 exceptional Nigerian women who have held their own and have stirred respect constantly within the society.
OSG in this article has decided to put these women on a pedestal in recognition of their different achievements across different spheres of life. We intend to do this with “Accelerated Action.”
Our International Women’s Day article is divided into three pieces, with this one being the first. Each article will highlight 10 women.
We would talk about these women’s early life, families, education and their success stories. Enjoy our piece below as you learn more about these great women.
1. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang – First female Vice President
Born in 1963 in Ghana, Opoku-Agyemang became Ghana’s first female vice president when she was elected into office in December 2024 along with the Commander-in-chief, John Mahama.
Majorly an academician, Opoku-Agyemang delved into politics towards the middle of the 2010s and boasts a reputable academic career built solidly on merit. She has been Vice-Chancellor of universities in Ghana and Zimbabwe, where she resigned in August 2024.
Serving as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast for four years(2008-2012), she was appointed Minister of Education in Ghana the following year, serving a four-year term in the office. She is married to a fellow academic, Edmund Opoku-Agyemang with whom they have three children.
2. Dr. Jumoke Oduwole – Political
Jumoke Oduwole(OON) is Nigeria’s current minister for Trade and Industry, having been senior special to former President Muhammadu Buhari on Trade and Industry from 2015 to 2023.
Born in Lagos in 1973, she attended the University of Lagos, where she earned a law degree and was called to the bar in 1999.
At the turn of the new millennium, she attended Stanford University in England, where she acquired a degree in commercial law and returned to Lagos.
Before she was picked as an SSA to President Buhari, she was a jurist for most of fifteen years and boasts a wealth of experience in the legal field.
Mrs Oduwole was pivotal in Nigeria’s most recent industrial commissions internationally, with her influence well recognized in the nation’s capital.
She is married to her college sweetheart and they have two children.
3. Funke Akindele – Box office record for highest-grossing Nollywood movie
Many will share the belief that she is Nigeria’s biggest television superstar, particularly with “Jenifa’s Diary” amassing multi-million views since the mid-2010s. She was born in Lagos in 1977 and attended Moshood Abiola Polytechnic as well as the University of Lagos.
She debuted in 1998, as a cherry 21-year-old in the sitcom “I Need to Know” which ran for four years. In 2008, ”Jenifa,” was released and the following year Akindele won the award for best actress in a lead role.
READ ALSO: Highest Grossing Movie: Funke Akindele’s Everybody Loves Jenifa Smashes Box-Office Record
In 2015 Jenifa’s Diary was released and Akindele won the AMVCA for best actress in a lead role for two consecutive years (2016 and 2017).
She married JJC Skillz, a Nigerian media personality and artist, and they had twin boys. In 2022, JJC Skillz announced the couple’s divorce via his Instagram page.
Akindele is Nigeria’s highest-grossing director, with more than N4.4 billion Naira in Box Office.
4. Ladun Awobokun – Scaling Nollywood to a new height
Ladun Awobokun is a content strategist and currently is chief content strategist at FilmOne Ltd, a Nigerian movie distribution company.
Having nearly two decades in the field, she has pioneered multiple groundbreaking projects in the movie industry. One of such movies that Ladun Awobokun has worked on includes, “A tribe called Judah”, which surpassed N1.5bn at the Box Office.
Awobokun’s methods have yielded immense success for FilmOne and has also been involved in various movie projects of recent.
She aims to reshape how not just Nigerian films, but also West African television is perceived on a global scale. She is happily married with children.
5. Chidimma Adetshina – Against adversity she won
Chidimma Adetshina is a Nigerian model and influencer who is famous for representing Nigeria at the Miss Universe pageant, where she finished as the first runner-up.
READ ALSO: Dabiri-Erewa celebrates Chidimma’s emergence as First Runner up ,Miss Universe
She was born in Soweto, South Africa to a Nigerian father and a Zimbabwean mother. Originally supposed to represent South Africa at the Miss Universe pageant, some discrepancies and public uproar led to her quitting the contest.
After quitting Miss Universe South Africa, she was invited by the Nigerian organisers to join the Nigerian version of the show so she could have a shot at the global contest.
She is 23 and is currently single. Chidinma is currently the Miss Universe for Africa and Oceania and has picked a social interest/cause to fight against Xenophobia and racial discrimination.
6. Banke Kuku – Pioneer of Lagos Fashion Week
Banke Kuku, who was born in Lagos in the 1980s, immigrated to the UK when she was eight years old. Banke earned a bachelor’s degree in textiles at the age of 19 after completing coursework at Central St. Martins College and Chelsea College of Art and Design.
Before starting her clothing line, Banke worked for a top interior firm called, Designers Guild amid other international fashion firms. She also helped with the fabric design for the Royal Collection, which was displayed at Buckingham Palace.
Soon afterwards, Banke Kuku started an interior design division of her company, which drew orders from high-end clients like Bazar et Grande Manger Tokyo, Aynhoe Park Hotel Oxford, Le Bon Marche Paris, and Selfridges.
In 2019, Banke Kuku opened her Lagos boutique for women where she debuted her first womenswear and accessories collection. This was followed by the launch of her e-commerce store in 2020 and the inclusion of childrenswear in 2021.
Known for her unique take on luxury loungewear, Banke takes inspiration from the culture of her years spent in London and Lagos, which has heavily influenced her bold patterns, resulting in statement prints with captivating impact.
7. Hilda Bassey – Celebrity chef and Guinness World Record Holder
Hilda Effiong Bassey (born 20 September 1995), more popularly known as Hilda Baci, is a Nigerian chef, restaurateur, actress, and the former holder of the Guinness World Record for marathon cooking (Cook-Athon).
The Awka-Ibom-born chef smashed the GWR for marathon cooking in 2023 setting a new record at 93 hours 11 minutes in May 2023.
Though, Hilda no longer holds the record it was her cookathon World Record that put her on the national and global map.
Her quest for fame as a chef began, in August 2021, when she won the Jollof Face Off competition.
The beautiful Akwa-Ibom-born chef is a graduate of sociology from Madonna University, Okija, Anambra State.
She was the host of Dine on a Budget, a television show that aired on Pop Central TV. Hilda is from the Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
8. Tems – Grammy Winner
Another woman who has made it to the OSG’s International Women’s Day list is Grammy Award winner, Temilade Openiyi, better known by her stage name, Tems.
Temilade Openiyi, better known by her stage name Tems, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer who was born on June 11, 1995.
The 2020 single “Essence” by Wizkid, which peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after the release of the remix version featuring Justin Bieber, catapulted her to fame.
Tems was nominated for a Grammy Award for the song. She appeared on Canadian rapper Drake’s song “Fountains” that same year.
9. Stephanie Busari – First Senior Editor for Africa at CNN Worldwide
Following the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which sparked talks with Boko Haram that led to the release of more than 100 of the abducted schoolgirls, Nigerian journalist Stephanie Busari (born 1977) gained notoriety for being the only person to obtain the “proof of life” video for the missing Chibok schoolgirls.
After completing her studies in French and Public Media at Trinity and All Saints College in Leeds, Busari went on to pursue an Advanced Diploma Program at the University of Rennes.
In 2016 Stephanie Busiar was recognised by the Divas of Colour International Women’s Awards for Global Leadership.
Also, in 2017, she was honoured with the Hall of Fame Award and included on the first-ever worldwide list of the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD).
Furthermore, in 2022 she received the Pop Culture Africa Awards as the African Woman of the Year award for her exceptional contributions to the world stage, which served as an inspiration to other African women.
10. Odunayo Eweniyi – Forbes 30 under 30
Odunayo Eweniyi is a Nigerian business executive and activist. She is the Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of PiggyVest and co-founder of Feminist Coalition.
Eweniyi earned a first-class degree in computer engineering from Covenant University in 2013. After graduating in 2013, Eweniyi began working with Somto Ifezue and Joshua Chibueze to develop Push CV. In 2016, the trio launched PiggyVest two years later.
In 2018, Eweniyi won the Future Awards Africa Prize in Technology. In 2019, she was on Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30 Technology list. Eweniyi was named one of the 30 Quartz Africa Innovators for 2019.
Eweniyi was on Forbes Africa’s list of 20 New Wealth Creators in Africa 2019. She was nominated for The Future Awards Africa Prize for Young Person of The Year in 2020.
She was also listed on Bloomberg 50 in 2020 and Time’s Next 100 list in 2021 for her joint contributions during the End SARS protests of October 2020. In March 2022, she won the Forbes Woman Africa Technology and Innovation Award.
In 2022, Eweniyi was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst. As part of the program, she attended the annual New Economy Forum held in Singapore and the Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst Retreat that same year.
Odunayo Eweniyi isn’t in any relationship that is publicly known.
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