As the world celebrates a new change in Nigeria’s political system, I salute the courage and
tenacity of one brave woman ‘’Professor
Remi Sonaiya’’,KOWA Party. She didn't let the fear of Tigers intimidate her; she still pushed forward and contested for presidency.
Professor Remi
Sonaiya is indeed a great woman. Nigeria might not be ready for a female
president, but I think she has really paved the way for all women. She may not
have won but she was able to beat Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru of Hope Democratic
Party (HDP) and Godson Mgbodile Ohaenyem Okoye of United Democratic Party (UDP)
in the presidential election.
Let’s take a
look at the profile of this brave woman.
Remi Sonaiya was born on March 2nd,
1955. She began her schooling in 1961 at St. Luke’s Demonstration School,
Ibadan, from where she proceeded to St. Anne’s School, also in Ibadan, for her
secondary education. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in French from the
University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1977, graduating with the
best result in her faculty, did her Youth Service at the Nigeria Military
School, Zaria, got married, and proceeded to Cornell University, USA, from
where she obtained an M. A. in French Literature. Back in Nigeria, she enrolled
for another Masters degree program, this time in Linguistics, which she
obtained in 1984, and immediately returned to Cornell University for her PhD
studies in Linguistics. She graduated from Cornell in 1988 and returned to
continue lecturing in the Department of Foreign Languages of the Obafemi
Awolowo University which she had joined in 1982 as an Assistant Lecturer. She
became a professor of French Language and Applied Linguistics in 2001.
Among Remi Sonaiya’s academic and professional distinctions
are the following:
- Member of the Project Drafting Committee for the
Establishment of the Nigeria French Language Village, Badagry;
- Member of the executive committees of some of her
professional associations and of the editorial boards of several local and
international journals;
- Conference interpreter since 1989 (including for ECOWAS);
- Recipient of various international research grants and
fellowships, including the French Government Grant for Advanced Researchers and
the German Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship;
- First Nigerian to be appointed as the Ambassador Scientist
of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a position she occupied from 2008 to
2014.
Just as Buhari
never gave up, i wish she wont give up too.
But i salute her
today. Welldone.
No comments:
Post a Comment