Cheer up guys!

The guys in my class almost set the school on fire last week with their burning anger. Well, the gist is that our first semester result was released on Monday and the reason why they were angry is because girls came tops in all the courses. They were not comfortable because girls are taking lead, and worse, they felt some of the girls who failed to fail use what they have to ensure that they succeeded (in a nutshell, some girls sleeping with lecturers to get better grades). It is a hilarious that guys usually jump into this weak conclusion anytime ladies seems to perform better than them in any level or at any setting. “Well, its because she is a girl...”.

I still do not understand why it is part of the human nature to tie so much relevance to someone's gender each time an issue is raised. During this year's international youth day conference, the facilitator asked the youth participants if they believe women will be better leaders in Nigeria...and as usual, we had a good number of the ladies shouting “yes”, a better number of the guys shouting “no”, while the quiet voice of some guys said “yes”. Now I ask, what has gender got to do with leadership role? It is not in our place to tie any sentiment to giving women responsibilities just because they are that- women.

Prof. Dora Akunyili, Dr. Okonji Iweala and Obiageli Ezekwesili to mention but a few are respectable women in Nigeria going about their business and making great impact ...but I doubt that the level they have attained is as a result of their gender. They have paid the price of developing themselves (and still doing just that to keep up-to-date) and today, they are getting the result we would all get if we do the same. It is not all about “Because they are women!”

We need to unlearn the thinking that gender have more to do with how far we go in life, if not we will find ourselves being limited and become a more grumpy generation. Millennium Development Goal 3 states: Promote Gender equality and empower women. Period. Not, from hence forth, men should become threatened because women are rising to take the lead. I do not blame my classmates for being so angry because girls are taking the lead in class, however, I hope they don't dwell on that posture of bitterness for too long and fail to study, if not, come next exam, they will still be where they are while girls keep blazing the trail!
Our society need people who are ready to take up responsibility because of their ability to tackle issues and effect change, not empty vessels lauding they should be given a chance to show what people of their gender can do! The next time you meet someone feeling intimidated by their gender or gender of others, please pass on this message, “Cheer up, life goes beyond the nature of your thingy. It is more about the stuff you are made of!”.