The Everyday Feminist

9If the System Is Broke, Let a Feminist Fix It—In Any Sector

Spotlight: Leslye Obiora and Political Empowerment Movement

Issue: Political Empowerment

She struck me as both royal and homey all at once. As she walked into the hotel restaurant in Abuja, I studied her head wrap, which was nothing short of a piece of art. Her skirt flowed behind her in silver with red accents that made my Anne Klein black skirt suit seem dreary and inappropriate. She smelled rich, clearly someone with access to the best perfumes and soaps. When she reached the table, she embraced me, although we had never met before and this meeting was a bit impromptu.

Patra was the wife of one of the state governors in Nigeria. After two years working in Bamako, I'd recently taken a post there as the program director and, shortly after arriving, was thrust into the acting mission director position, responsible for the entire assistance budget from the US Congress to Nigeria. I had reached out to Patra for a meeting, because this was not my first rodeo and I'd learned that connecting with the powerful women of the host country early in my tenure was the quickest path to success. They could provide important knowledge and open far more doors than any diplomat or expatriate ever could.

Patra was trying to formalize the governors' wives as an association and that evening had gathered eight of them (out of 36 states in the country) to meet with me to discuss the agenda of USAID in Nigeria.

Patra told me her story: ...