3 Powerful Ways to Empower a Woman

In the past, girls were not given equal opportunities as the boys especially in the area of education, skill acquisition, freedom to information and self expression.  They were not considered able enough to have these rights.  They were regarded as part of men’s inheritance and properties and were expected to treat the men with reverence.   



The only thing a parent deems good for the girl is to give her out in marriage as early as possible and probably use the bride price to educate the boys.  This is because there was this mindset that women education is not profitable, she will be married out and her husband will be the only one to gain after all.  The boy will always remain in the house, bring in a wife, give birth to children and continue the family lineage when the father is no more.  All these and more gave rise to the belief that boys are superior to girls and as a result, a woman who did not give birth to male children is barely recognized as wife in the home.  The tendency is for people to go to any length and do all manner of things to have a boy child.

As time went on, the realization came that educating and empowering a girl is a gateway to Nation’s building and poverty alleviation.  A saying goes that “when you educate a man, you have educated an individual, but when you educate a woman, you have educated a nation.  Do you know why?  Everyone is a product of a woman – they are the ones close to the children, what they put in the children is what the children will bring out.  A President, Governor, Legislator, business executive etc., who does well in his career is as a result of his upbringing and the mother’s teachings.

You may want to know how a girl can be empowered.

 Education 

Unfortunately, it was recently observed during a workshop tagged “women empowerment for Nation building” that women are still very much behind in education and this has been the root of the moral decadence and poverty that is ravaging a good number of the nations of the world, hence the need to sensitize on the profits of women empowerment through education.  When a girl is educationally empowered, she will make a better daughter, sister, wife, mother, manager and even a leader.  

I have come to the realization that the limitations women have in; child's training, maintaining and managing the home etc is as a result of being uneducated.  It is what you have that you can give; educationally empowered women will definitely nurture and bring out hand full of good and intelligent children.  Also, when a woman is educated, she has acquired an entry point to other opportunities; she has the key to help herself attain any level of her choice and has the tendency of affecting positively the lives of others around her more than her male counterpart. To make our world better, every girl must have the right to education. 

Skill Acquisition

Apart from being educated, another great way to empower a woman is by skill acquisition.  This goes with creativity, working with her hands to create things that will eventually turn to cash.  Having her own income is not only good for her; it is also good for her family.  It will also enable her take care of her needs, contribute to her family upkeep and have a say in the family.  Uneducated and unskilled woman is a weak and vulnerable woman.  Skill acquisition can be in the area of the following:  Dress making, bead making, catering, computer literacy, mechanic, electrician, driving etc. 

Freedom to Information 

Not having the right information has led to the death of a great number of women.  Let us consider the area of health; many women die during child birth as a result of either not having the earlier information that they will not be able to give birth to the child normally because they did not attend the ante natal program or not able to pay for CS or other means of getting a baby out.  

If only they have the information on how to get cheaper medical attention like the Health Insurance Scheme, they wouldn’t have died.  There are other injustices done to women but because they do not have the right information about it, they continue to suffer i.e., in some parts of Nigeria, women are denied the right to inherit properties from their parents.  Women are not allowed to participate in family discussions, attend certain ceremonies; they are often held responsible for the death of their husbands and consequently subjected to several kinds of inhuman treatment etc.  All these wrongs are as a result of not having the right information.

I hope this helps.  I will continue with other ways of empowering a woman.