They said "A woman belongs to another city"-Dr Kate Ambrose

I had many suitors right from my form 1, I refused to be distracted....

Exclusive interview with Dr. Kate Ambrose 
Can You Tell Us Your Name and where you are from?
I am Pastor Dr Kate Ambrose, from Abia state.

What do you do for a living?
I have been a student counselor at the national Open University of Nigeria until my retirement last January.
How long have you been under the educational sector?
I worked as a classroom teacher for 14 years, worked as a federal school inspector for 10 years, before switching to the national open university of Nigeria and worked for 15 years.

What is your view on international women’s day (IWD)?
It is a day we celebrate women, both young and old, the values that are placed on women, their contributions in the society.
A woman is very relevant due to her multitasking nature, women play a lot of roles .To consolidate a woman’s value , she gets pregnant, runs the family, and still faces office task at work and coming back home to the kitchen.Therefore, I solicit for women’s celebration.

What has been your greatest challenge as a woman?
It is marginalization: women are always marginalized ,a lot of taboos against women  to men, Let’s look at the bible , the woman that was caught committing adultery, she was to be stone to death , meanwhile the adultery was committed with a man . I saw a video online where a Muslim girl was stone to death for committing fornication and I wondered where the man was.
If you want to buy a car or build a house, the response you often get is that you are a single woman.
Another challenge, was the choice of education over marriage, was a challenge. Although I had my goals and desire, my aspiration was to study, I love education, I love ambitious women and I admired them.
 I had many suitors right from my form 1, I refused to be distracted. Education was my priority; I made sure I satisfied my educational curiosity before marriage. My father loved education but my mother was a little bit pushy about marriage.
We were told folk tales that helped us, guided us; I grew up to detest association with the male gender to avoid compromise.

What inspired you to further your education?
What inspired me was the passion, instinctive and inner drive to go higher. I set goals , one after the other , I never knew I will become a doctor , I only desired it as a growing girl child I felt those who didn’t have passion for education were lazy .
In those days graduates where held in high esteem, my father had passion for education and mandated us all to attain a level of education.

How friendly was the Africa tradition when you chose to further your career?
It was a thug of war, some enemies of education who had bond with tradition discouraged my parents from traning the girls,
My parents rejected their proposal. They said nwanyi bu obodo onye ozo” (a woman belongs to another city); consequently, any money invested on them is a waste, they said age was counting, mean while I was 16 years.
I over came by been focused on goal. My goal helped me, which was to attend the higher level as I explained earlier. I succeeded when I bagged my PHD in guidance and counselling.

What is your view about gender equality?
Gender equality means a balance between a man and a woman i.e. equality between men and women, having equal right to speech, education , health facilities, appointment , to sit in front of vehicles, to make a choice to  worship and many more. Women have been limited in many ways .
Let’s take a look at gender inequality; a female is denied of her right, some to education and some to improper education, to family assets, they will say she’s not a member of our family; she can’t inherit anything and they share and leave the woman out. Women are not allowed to participate in family meetings, even if they are there ,they are there as observers. Women are not allowed to occupy leadership positions, denied access to adequate funding, women are not allowed to eat gizzard, and it has to be reserved for the man or the first son. I was shocked when I learnt that a woman who retired with a male colleague of whom they were employed same day promoted same day and retired same day would receive fewer packages than her male counterpart will because she is female.
Women are  subjected to domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence etc. Even when my father was training us he said he was doing it for us to have say, so that we will not be maltreated by our husbands. I stand for equal treatment for men and women over family assets.
Women should be allowed to join politics .Government should increase the percentage of female legislatures, women in parliament and all other positions .Am looking forward to when a woman will become a president in Nigeria , more female vice chancellors.
Gender equality is a must as far as I am concerned. Females are not just supposed to do the home chores, they are to be regarded as one and as such same value as the men should be accorded to them.

WHAT SHOULD BE A GIRL'S FIRST PRIORITY IN LIFE?
To me I would want them to tow my part which is pursuing their education and career. They should be settled before going into a man’s house because these days no man wants to marry a young lady as a liability. A man needs someone who will be of help to him in the family, someone who will be supportive in any area. Therefore, my advice to young women is that they should be more focused in school, get a job or start a trade or any skill in order to enable them to be comfortable in life. This will make them to be regarded as important representatives in the society.

HOW CAN YOU HELP FORGE A MORE GENDER BALANCED WORLD?
The girls should embrace education and achieve goals for their career and futures, by so doing they will be qualified to vie positions in the society. They can also compete with the men in high places. Many careers are open for that but many women choose to go into hair dressing, sewing, and then they close the door.They should go for better jobs that can make them excel better. When women lead the people rejoice example is Dr Okonjo Iweala (Former Finance Minister),

• Late prof Dora Akunyili, late Indira Gandhi, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf they all did well and I pray the young girls of today will work towards great achievement like her. Another way can be through classroom experience, teachers should be able to encourage the girls to work harder in their field. Self-concept will also be of great encouragement to the females, they should not have it in mind that their role ends at home as a woman because one day they will become a mother and should be a role model to their kids

BY Priscilla Okoh