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In relation to the capacity building and development of women in their various endeavours, Kings Communication Limited, the organisers of the MMS Woman of Fortune Hall of Fame has been advised to inject younger generation of women into the annual programme as a means of ensuring continuity and sustainability in women development.
The category of the younger generation of women to be invited include undergraduate students in the universities to serve as a platform for inspiring them to work harder to achieve success in life.
This was declared by the former Minister of Transport, Dr. Kema Chikwe at the 2014 class of MMS Plus’ Woman of Fortune Hall of Fame induction ceremony with the theme: Building Capacity for Transformative Leadership, held in Lagos, last week.
According to her, inviting them to watch as some women who have made success in their diverse professions are being honoured will also spur them to be better in future and striving towards it as well.
In her words, “What I will like to say to the organisers is please, next year you must make sure that you specifically invite some undergraduate students, give them a section in the hall so that as you are building, there will be continuity, acquire experience from Nigerian women”.
Lauding the success of the event, she added that it will serve as a vehicle of inspiration for the younger generation of women.
Earlier, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) National Leader had described the organisers as being resilient and would never rest on their oars until they achieve the task ahead of them.
“It is very easy to start a project but it is not easy to sustain it. They have been resilient and that accounts for this third edition. What goes for Kingsley Anaroke and his wife is that they target what they want and they will not sleep until they get it.
“And that is a quality for transformation and also success so I am very happy to be here after receiving the award in 2012 and being appointed the chairperson of the governing council”.
Speaking further, Dr. Chikwe who is also the Chairperson, Governing Council of the MMS Plus Woman of Fortune Hall of Fame said that the project was a significant one as the award was not only being given to serving women but also remembering the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, whom she described as an institution in the country even as she said it focuses on gender issues in development.
She stated that according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), over 50% of voters are women hence women deserve to be given more chance in participating in decision making in the country.
The Chairman of Port Consultative Council (PCC), Otunba Kunle Folarin in his goodwill message said that there was no doubt that women have achieved a lot in the maritime industry, adding that women have also excelled in areas such as; administration, engineering, legal profession as well as in education.
He reiterated that over 160 young Nigerians are currently undergoing training in Nautical Sciences, Marine Engineering, Nautical Survey and other aspects of the maritime sectors in Nigerian universities and polytechnics.
According to him, the country is going to have a lot of women who are going to be Marine Engineers on most of the ships that ply Nigerian territorial waters.
However, he advised that more opportunities should be given to women as a means of encouraging them to perform better in their professions.
In another development, the Chairman of the occasion and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Lagos state in the forth coming elections, Mr. Jimi Agbaje has said that since over 50% of voters in the country are women, they deserve to be given a place in the decision making in the country adding that they are deserving of such awards, adducing their success stories to hard work and resilience.
He described the event as a “morale booster” which will get the women to do better and be focused because they would have it at the back of their minds that someday, they too would be so honoured for their hard work.
He commended the organisers for seeing through the future to be able to bring up such a laudable idea that would spur women to achieve the best in their chosen careers, while advising the younger generation of women to put in their best to become somebody in future.
The Minister of Transport, Sen. Idris Umar, represented by Deputy Director, Cabotage and Shipping Development, Federal Ministry of Transport, Mallam Mohammed Umar, called on women, especially the younger generation to be more focused and emulate the accomplished women for the development of the nation.
“We need to set our agenda, have our objectives clear, remain focus, persist with dedication and the sky is the limit, we will succeed. If we want to move this country, then each and every one of us should remain focused and dedicated”, the minister noted.
