The High Commission of India in Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja honoured some outstanding Nigerian women as part of activities to mark the 2023 International Women’s Day.

Gangandharan Balasubramanian, the Indian high commissioner to Nigeria, stated that the event was organised to celebrate and give awards to distinguished Nigerian and Indian women from various fields.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 in honour of women’s achievements, raising awareness about discrimination and taking action to drive gender parity.

The envoy said the event was organised on March 7 to have all the stakeholders on board to herald the day.

“International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world, and we have so many achievers here in Nigeria. So the high commission considered it appropriate to recognise and celebrate the achievements of these great women on this special day,” he said.

Four outstanding Nigerian women were honoured from various fields, including health, politics, diplomacy and medicine. Three Indian women in Nigeria were also recognised from the business, education and culture sectors.

The Nigerians honoured included Mojisola Adeyeye (NAFDAC director-general), Abike Dabiri-Erewa (NiDCOM CEO), Janet Olisa (director overseeing office of the permanent secretary at the foreign affairs ministry), and Maimuna Habib (the chief veterinary officer of Nigeria).

The Indian women honoured were Ritu Sahajwalla (MD Greenville Liquefied Natural Gas Company Ltd), Sonali Gupta (principal of India Language School, Lagos) and Hamisha Abuja (a movie director/producer).

Mr Balasubramanian highlighted the immense contributions of women to nation-building in both countries and stressed the need for gender equality.

The 2023 International Women’s Day’s theme is ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’.

(NAN)