Changing the Narrative through Visionary Leadership: The Niger Delta Woman Experience in Nigeria

Abstract

The accelerated growth of women's participation in leadership positions is an action to stimulate inclusive leadership as a means of discouraging gender inequality. Women's involvement and participation in policy making have attracted serious debate on whether or not women have the competency and capacity to perform and deliver as their male counterparts. Investigating through the lens of the leadership literature indicated that women in leadership is an emerging approach to bridging the gap between men and women and also to encourage women's involvement, engagement and inclusion in management of both public and private organisations. This significantly pointed to the fact that women who constitute a larger part of the population have not been effectively engaged and represented in positions of authority to contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of the economy. This further demonstrates that women who are made up of human capital (knowledge, skills, experiences, and abilities) are wasting the majority of their time because they have not been effectively and efficiently utilized to improve the well-being of our society.Women's discrimination and violence against women have created negative feelings and emotions among the feminine class against their male counterparts. Sexual harassment and gender inequality have also discouraged women from participating in social, political, economic and religious activism. The impact of this is waste of man-hour, violation of human rights, lack of trust, productivity degeneracy and sub-optimal performance. Therefore, there is a need to break the class ceiling created by men for men. A culture that is created by men for their interests should be discouraged to promote gender parity in our society. Women should be engaged and encouraged to participate to foster inclusive and visionary leadership and a gender-friendly work environment.