These 7 Women Who Dominated The Year 2026 In Their Respective Fields

Nigerian women have exceeded all expectations in their respective fields this year, from breaking records to setting new ones and starting a new chapter for the country. 

In this article, we list women who have made their mark in their respective fields and put Nigeria on the global map. 

Nora Awolowo is a director, film producer and cinematographer who began her own company at the age of 19. Her winning streak began in 2024, when she became the first Nigerian woman nominated for Best Cinematography at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) for her work on the Nigerian 2024 epic Lisabi: The Uprising. In 2025, she became the youngest Nigerian filmmaker to cross the 100 million Naira mark. In 2026, Nora Awolowo produced the Guinness World Record-holding movie Black Market, which set the record for the largest number of people present at a movie screening at the same time.

Shalom Rayhamen is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and software developer who recently went viral for creating the web game, “Lagos Life.” Shalom has built a virtual world that has attracted over 5 million players in just 9 days and thousands of active players, with $500,000 in funding in just a week of development. Her creation has, in just a week and a few days, contributed to the revolutionising of the Nigerian tech space and has served as an inspiration for other tech creators in the same field.

Damilola Osikoya is a Nigerian founder and the brain behind Switch Visuals and Vogue Quest Travels. Her film, content, and event production company, Switch Visuals, produced the Guinness World Record-winning event held at Tafawa Balewa Stadium on the 26th of September. Through Damilola’s company’s production, the screening event for 51,000 people was brought to life.

Temi Nkem is a reality TV star and the most recent winner of the Big Brother Naija reality TV show. Temi Nkem’s win in the 11th edition of Big Brother Naija not only continued a two-year streak of female winners, but the 21-year-old also became the youngest winner in the show’s history after topping all the voting lists for the season.

22-year-old model and creative Rachel Ojuromi went from working with her stylish Debbie Fashina to recreate well-known Chanel looks on the streets of Lagos, to making her runway debut at the Chanel 2026 fashion week show in Paris. She not only made news for walking the show but has also been featured on Vogue, Dazed, and Madame Figaro Paris, amongst others.

Nigerian singer and songwriter Solana, who first went viral earlier in the year with a snippet of her song “Okunkun”, has had an exciting year. The song, which has since crossed 1 million streams on Spotify after being released in 2026, three years after it was recorded, earned her recognition from globally known artists like SZA, Tyla, and Diplo, and from the most coveted awarding organisation, the Grammys. Solona was created to create a new sound in the Nigerian music scene called “Yorupop.”

Blessing Uzzi is a Nigerian producer, filmmaker, and founder of Bluehouse Studios, the production company for “Call of My Life.” The film “Call of My Life” is now the highest-grossing Nigerian film of 2026, with 901.3 million Naira. In 2025, Kachifo: “Till the Morning Comes,” a film she produced alongside Dika Ofoma, won three international awards at the Locarno Film Festival, and in 2026, the film won Norway’s Sørfond Grant of $64,000. “Call of My Life” is also the highest-grossing non-December release in Nigerian box office history.

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