Renowned Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said the world has lost so much by excluding women from participating in various aspects of society including education and politics.

Chimamanda who spoke during a Meet and Greet interactive session with the management, staff and students of Veritas University on Wednesday in Abuja, lamented that exclusion of women in society which was invariably limiting the exploration of their talents, was hindering global growth, development and innovation.

While stressing that feminism was a justice movement like every other movement in the world for groups of people excluded by society, the writer however decried that feminism has been politicised because a lot of people do not understand what feminism was truly all about.

She said: “When I say feminism is politicized, what I mean is that people don’t understand what feminism really means.

“People add all kinds of political meanings. Oh, it’s a woman who wants to fight men, all of that but It’s not.

“If you think about it, it’s a justice movement in the same way that racial justice is a justice movement, the movement for people with disabilities, all movements that have excluded groups of people, that’s the same thing that it is. It’s a justice movement.”

The writer who said the world cheated itself thinking it should be all about the men, maintained that the world would have brought in more talent and intelligence to every sector by embracing full inclusion of women.

According to her, there was a need to fix certain things where women have been excluded to enable them participate actively in activities and decision making, as men and women tho different biologically, they are equal.

“The world that has lost a lot from women being excluded. When you think about it, men and women are granted intelligence. So we cannot say that men are somehow automatically more intelligent than women.

“When you think about all the intelligent women throughout history who have not been allowed to participate, who were not allowed to go to school, who were sent off to get married instead of getting educated, you realize that we have lost a lot because who knows if perhaps today we might have cured all different kinds of cancers if we had let these women get in.

“What we have done as a society is that we have somehow cheated ourselves. We’ve used half of the intelligence that God gave to us as human beings by excluding women and so it’s time, and this is why I say that feminism in the end is a justice movement. It’s not about fighting anybody. It’s about justice.”

Chimamanda who noted that men and women should be able to compete using their brains equally, added that there was a need to begin to think of the situation of women in the context of the man.

Commenting on her latest book “Dream Count,” she noted that the novel was aimed at reminding people; both men and women, of their dreams

“Dream Count is a novel that I hope will make people remember their dreams. We all dream; Women, men, and sometimes we put our dreams in our pockets because we don’t think that they will come true and I think it’s important to just keep dreaming.

“And so I hope that this novel inspires everyone, but of course, particularly, women who want to run for office. It’s a very difficult thing to take on in a country that doesn’t have many successful examples to look up to. But I think just being reminded that as a human being, you dream and it’s worth holding on to that dream. It’s worth trying because you never know.”

Vice Chancellor Veritas University Abuja, Rev. Fr Hyacinth Ichoku who described Chimamanda as a global icon and inspiration, challenged students of the institution to discover and pursue their destinies like Chimamanda.

“Many of us come into the university without knowing what is our destiny. You can actually discover your destiny at the university and pursue it with all your energy. But more importantly, the level of focus she gave to her inspiration that she went on and on and on to become a global hero.

“She overcame all obstacles. Can you imagine the daughter of a Professor and the mother is a Registrar? So they were not like the days of this world. But that tells us also that now she is a global icon, that also tells us young people that if you pursue your ambition with focus, you can get there.

“The title of the book she’s launching around is Dream Count and for me, another interpretation of it is if you dream hard enough, your dream will count, if you work hard enough, your dream will count.”

“You are an inspiration so our association with you today will become like an elevation. It will elevate our status as not just a national university but also an international university.”