Simisola Olayemi Onibuwe Johnson, (1929 – 2000) was a Nigerian

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

and women's advocate who served as Minister for

Social Development Social development can refer to: * Psychosocial development * Social change * Social development theory * Social Development (journal) * Social emotional development * Social progress or social regress The word decadence, which at first meant ...

and Culture during the nation's second republic. Johnson and Grace Guobadia both qualified as dentists in 1957, making them the first trained female dentists in Nigeria as also a chair of Allied Bank and the Lagos State branch of the National Council of Women Societies, and a fellow of the

National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria The National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria is a parastatal of the Federal Government Ministry of Health, charged with the responsibility of postgraduate training of medical and dental doctors in Nigeria. History It was established o ...

Life

Johnson was born in Lagos Island, to the family of Alfred Latunde and Harriet Susan Johnson (née Crowther Nichol). She was the last born of her parents. Her father was a lawyer and a founding director of the National Bank of Nigeria in 1933, her maternal great-great-grandfather was Ajayi Crowther, while her great-grand-uncle was Herbert Macaulay. Johnson was educated at CMS Girls' School Lagos. From 1954 to 1957, she attended

Sunderland Technical College , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Emeli ...

and

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

qualifying as a dentist. She and fellow Nigerian, Grace Guobadia, graduated in the same year, becoming the first two trained female dentists in the country. Johnson earned a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree and Guobadia, a Licentiate in Dental Surgery. Johnson later attended the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow to become an orthodontist. In the process, she became Nigeria's first female women's development, a committee given the mandate to establish a working relationship between the government and other women's organizations in the country. After the Shagari administration, Johnson continued to play an advisory role in gender affairs. In 1985, she was head of Nigeria's delegation to the

Third World Conference on Women The World Conference on Women, 1985 or the Third World Conference on Women took place between 15 and 26 July 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, as the end-of-decade assessment of progress and failure in implementing the goals established by the World Plan of ...

, held in Nairobi, Kenya. Part of the recommendations of the conference was for member nations to eliminate discrimination against women and adopt strategies that will include the participation of women in an effort to promote development. Johnson was the head of the women's advisory committee, charged to make recommendations to Babangida's administration about strategies to increase women's participation in government. The committee among other things recommended the creation of a Ministry for Women's Affairs. The ministry did not come into being until 1989 with the establishment of the National Commission for Women supported by

Maryam Babangida Maryam Babangida (1 November 1948 – 27 December 2009) was the wife of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who was Nigeria's head of state from 1985 to 1993. Her husband was the target of criticism for rampant corruption during his regime. She ...

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Simi Nigerian women activists Nigerian women academics Yoruba women academics Yoruba academics Nigerian women medical doctors Yoruba women physicians Yoruba physicians Abiodun family Academic staff of the University of Lagos Physicians from Lagos Yoruba women activists Yoruba activists Yoruba women in politics 20th-century Nigerian medical doctors Orthodontists 20th-century Nigerian politicians CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni History of women in Lagos 20th-century Nigerian women politicians 1929 births 2000 deaths Nigerian women's rights activists Federal ministers of Nigeria Politicians from Lagos Educators from Lagos Women government ministers of Nigeria 20th-century Nigerian women 20th-century women physicians Alumni of King's College, Newcastle St Anne's School, Ibadan alumni 20th-century dentists