Queen Olori Atuwatse III Calls for More Women Leaders in Africa at 2025 FLAIR Summit

• Queen Olori Atuwatse III counselled for full inclusion of women in Africa’s development during the 2025 FLAIR Summit.
• She also shared a personal story with an intent towards highlighting the ongoing gender bias and her mission for equity.

The Queen Consort of Warri Kingdom, Her Majesty Olori Atuwatse III, delivered a keynote speech at the 2025 FLAIR Summit in London. During the event, she called on African nations to recognize knowingly and raise women's leadership at all levels of society from homes and bazaars to statehouses and boardrooms.

Addressing a plenary session of the First Ladies of Africa Impact and Resilience Summit, the Queen asserted that African growth will be incomplete if it does not enable women who already hold pivotal positions within families, economies, and society to be fully empowered and brought into policy, leadership, and nation-building.

The ceremony was attended by delegates such as Oyo and Kwara First Ladies, lawmakers, investors and global development partners. The summit featured private meetings at legendary sites like the UK House of Lords, House of Commons, London Stock Exchange, and the Royal Leonardo Hotel.

During her keynote on 'Raising the Status of Women in Africa's Development’ Olori Atuwatse opened up with a very personal incident from her life.

She said, “Shortly after my father passed, I, his firstborn, was told to watch from the sidelines. ‘There’s a difference between a firstborn and a first son,’ they told me.”

According to her, the moment was a reminder of the way traditional norms continue to seek to diminish women's roles irrespective of qualifications or success.

Adding to her statement, she expressed that painful experience confirmed her mission as a leader and deepened her commitment to working towards gender equity, stating, “Nothing, not privilege, not age, not achievement insulates women from the limitations society tries to impose.”