MICHAEL AKINOLA
Honour and recognition have come the way of Nigerian women as international TV personality and women empowerment initiator, Professor Princess Halliday bagged two awards in one week: One, by the Canadian Government for Outstanding Leadership to Africa, while the other in London for Outstanding Achievement as Leadership Ambassador to Miss Commonwealth.
Halliday, host of the Princess Halliday Show is a young guest lecturer at the California State University, who achieved international consciousness for championing mindset empowerment, gender equality and giving equal access to quality education for all children, especially the African girl child; which she does through Empower Africa Initiative.
Commenting about the honour, Halliday in a post on her social media platform said: “This year has been gratifying. I am humbled and in awe of these Blessings from God as a reminder that perseverance, hard work and knowing who you are -pays off!
“Two awards in the same week? It is not easy changing a narrative that has long been embedded in a culture, but like Hillary Clinton said: “Never stop believing that fighting for what is right is worth it”. Never doubt that you are valuable and should have all the opportunity to pursue your own dream. I dedicate these awards to every young girl with a dream who refuses to be stopped because she is considered a girl. I love you all. I will continuously uphold our Nation Nigeria to high esteem, promoting and educating African women to be authentic leaders”.
Before now, Halliday, who trained as a petroleum engineer and then international business consultant, before delving into Leadership Studies at the prestigious Harvard University in US, has severally been recognised by various international bodies for being an authentic voice for the young females in Africa, following her ability to lead with emotional intelligence and communicate with empathy.
Her TV show, which airs on Mnet in over 48 African countries has featured many prominent and successful global citizens.
The show is seen as a pivotal gauge for the enormous potential of the female gender in Africa, especially as it highlights the need to change the narrative about the role of women in emancipating the African continent from the wrath of bad leadership.
Princess Halliday said, “Leadership Parity for young women in Africa is one core that I will continuously strive for till there is a significant balance. We must change the narrative, we must change the culture. We must continuously strive for a revolutionised shift in paradigm. The world is crying out for authentic leadership. There is a huge gap and need for great female leaders who will not be stopped by a stereotype understanding to identify their leadership parity and embrace power.”
Meanwhile, African celebrities including Robert Peters, Jim Iyke, Joseph Benjamin, Patrick Elis, Neville Sajare, all gathered in the United States with Princess Halliday at the Empower Africa Initiative forum where the stars collectively harnessed their leadership parity to further boost mindset empowerment in America.
The segment will be translated to the 2017 TV show for Empower Africa Initiative.
Watch Princess halliday speak on Authentic leadership
Watch Actor Rob Riley from the Perfect match on Empower Africa Initiative