Sirleaf Johnson Presidential Centre Honours Oreh, Others For Professional Accomplishments

The Sirleaf Johnson Presidential Centre has recognised three Nigerian Women for professional achievements in fields ranging from politics, medicine, law, and economics

The three Nigerian women that blaze the trail are Dr Adaeze Oreh, ejumola Abisoye, and Ifeyinwa Maureen Okafor.

The women have been recently announced as part of the 2021 Cohort of Amujae Leaders by the Ellen Sirleaf Johnson Presidential Centre for Women and Development.

The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre for Women and Development was founded by the former and first female president of Liberia (2006-2018), and first democratically elected woman President in Africa, in 2018.

The Centre was established to “be a catalyst for political and social change across Africa by helping unleash its most abundant latent power — its women”.

Its flagship programme, known as the Amujae Initiative is to utilize the centre to prepare identified women leaders in Africa to be able and ready to take leadership and excel at the peak while inspiring other women.

The 2021 cohort is only the second cohort to have been announced and boasts a wide swathe of 15 accomplished women from all over Africa (Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Egypt and Liberia).

Oreh who was recognised by the Centre is a Consultant Family Physician and Country Head of Planning, Research and Statistics for Nigeria’s National Blood Transfusion Service with over 17 years of private and public healthcare experience.

Working alongside policymakers, Oreh advocates for blood policies that reduce maternal and child mortality rates, reduce the transmission of infectious diseases through unsafe blood transfusions, and improve the distribution of safely-screened blood to remote and conflict-affected communities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Oreh employed her risk communications expertise, taking part in 30 interviews and publishing over 50 editorials to help educate the public on the pandemic.

A prolific writer on prevalent health and development issues in Africa, Oreh has authored publications in international, national, and local media outlets.

She holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Master of Science degrees in International Health Management from Imperial College London and in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In addition, she holds Leadership, Management and Public Policy certifications from Oxford Saïd Business School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the University of Washington.

She is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians, the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the Royal Society of Public Health and sits on the Governing Council of Nigeria’s first private university of Medical Sciences.

In 2019, she was named one of 25 recipients of the Aspen Institute’s New Voices Fellowship­­­—an initiative which recognizes changemakers in global health and development.

For Abisoye, she is a lawyer with experience in development finance, project management, and monitoring and evaluation.

She is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Secretary of Lagos State Employment Trust Fund. At LSTEF, Abisoye coordinates the design and implementation of programs that address youth unemployment in Lagos State.

Through her role, she has supported over 15,000 small businesses to create and sustain over 100,000 jobs and supported the training of over 5,000 youths. .

Abisoye earned an LLM, International Trade and Investment Law from the University of Pretoria and an LLB, Law from the University of Ibadan, where she graduated best in the Department of Private Business Law.

She is an alumnus of Yale University’s Women’s Leadership Program.

For Okafor Essien-Akpan, she is a Chartered Accountant and Governance Professional, who spent the first fifteen years of her career in banking and financial services and a former Managing Director of International Packaging Industries of Nigeria Plc.

She has previously served in several professional associations including as Treasurer and Member, Governing Council, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, and Training Coordinator and Member, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture Business Women Group.

She was a Commissioner on the Imo State Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Contracts from 2011-2019.

Okafor attended the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom where she graduated with a first-class degree in Law.

Previous Nigerian Amujae Leaders from the inaugural cohort (2020) include Hadiza Bala-Usman (Managing Director of Nigeria Ports Authority), Dr Jumoke Oduwole (Special Advisor to the President of Nigeria on Ease of Doing Business), and Hon. Angela Nwaka (a former member of the Delta State House of Assembly) all of whom are titans in their various rights.

Through its work, the EJS Center envisions more voices heard, talents unleashed, and leaders launched that prioritize the aspirations of women.

Its mission is to champion women’s ascension to the highest levels of leadership and challenge systemic barriers to girls’ and women’s advancement.