By Kenneth Jukpor
In Nigeria, the place of a woman in the workplace, home, governance and society generally varies based on ethnicity and religion. However, the roles and perception of women in Nigeria has evolved; they have learnt to come on their own in a previously misogynist Nigerian culture. They now understand that gender as a basis for seclusion is really a serious issue. They have learnt that in a world where mental capabilities is now the deciding factor, they have as much possibility of attaining peak level just like the male folk, and all these have shifted the mentality of women to challenge the established role of women in Nigerian marriages, business environment, politics and leadership positions.
At the 2017 MMS Woman of Fortune Hall of Fame (WoFHoF) induction, conference and awards, Nigerian female bigwigs showed that they understand that they are valuable in the echelon of things and they are ready to assist the next generation of young and ambitious Nigerian women via mentoring to enable them reach the peak in their various careers.
MMS Plus brings you some of their aspirations for the Nigerian female folk as well as their experiences.
The General Manager, Medical Services at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Chinwe Abama, who is also a 2015 MMS Hall of Fame inductee said she was very happy to be part of the MMS WoFHoF annual event which she described as an eye-opener drawing women from all walks of life, and providing an avenue for interaction, mentoring and networking.
“The lectures are very important because they hinge on the growth of women, on financial literary and capacity, education, skill acquisition and finesse. Again mentorship is also very important, the young ones are coming up and they need to be mentored especially now there is lack of employment in both the government and private sector. A lot of graduates are pouring out and it is time for them to draw passion towards entrepreneurship and financial independence. We are applying what we have learnt over the years and giving back to the younger ones” Abama said.
Speaking further on striking a balance between a woman’s responsibilities at home and the workplace, Abama stated that, “It is very important to strike a balance between the workplace and at home. Right now, my children are grown up. When I was much younger, the pressure was much, now that they are grown, I don’t need to give much attention like when they were younger. Now I need to try and make sure that the finance is there because I am a widow, I lost my husband in 2008 and it takes a lot of struggles, tenacity, a lot of focus and to top it all, prayers to do that”
Having gone through some turbulent times as a widow to raise her kids, Abama advised young widows to be determined, courageous, focused, prayerful and bold. “They need to speak out and be able to reach out to people, who can help because if you don’t nobody will know what you are going through”, she said.
On her part, the President of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria, Mrs. Mary Hamman said, “From this event, I have heard what other women said about mentorship and for women to come out and showcase themselves, because there is no way people will know about your potential , if you don’t come out and show case yourself. So I’m encouraging other women to come out and join the associations, where they can have the platform to showcase themselves”
“There is no way anyone can see your handwork if you don’t come out. If you don’t belong to any association it will be hard for us to locate you. Now, we know there are a lot of opportunities in the maritime sector and also in government, sometimes they might not know whom to put there but if someone introduces you, it makes it easier. So you don’t hide yourself because when you don’t make yourself available that’s when you lose out” she said.
One of the 2017 inductees, Mrs. Funke Agbor (SAN) acknowledged at it was her responsibility to mentor the younger crop of Nigerian women to enable them avoid some challenges and problems in life.
“We are all natural mentors; we owe it to generations coming. Some of us didn’t really have the mentorship that is available today. We owe the younger people who work in our offices, not necessarily under you or under your supervision. We should look for the problem; we need to look for the faces of the young people that we come across every morning at work. Look for them, call them in look at their faces and ask how are you? You may be surprised that “after asking how are you?” they burst into tears, because you don’t even know what they have been going through”
Funke Agbor noted that when women are not working well or doing well at work, there is a reason which may be linked to a problem at home.
“Their husbands or children could be in trouble, or their bosses are making life difficult for them. We have to reach out and look for them; we can’t pretend that it doesn’t happen. We are natural mentors and we have to do it. I do it all the time, at times it’s not always easy. You are running because you think the problem is too much but there are people to help. Once you are in an office and things are not going the way it’s expected you should find out. Women are going to be pregnant but we can join hands by making decisions that will favour them at the management level” she added.
Funke Agbor posited that the event was for a good cause as anything that uplifts women is a good cause because women make half or even more than the entire population. According to her, if women are able to gather in their strength in numbers to push even the politically engendered that they believe the country deserves to move forward then women will make more progress.
Another 2017 MMS WoFHoF inductee and President of Women in Mining, Nigeria, Engr. Janet Adeyemi said Nigeria couldn’t develop by neglecting almost half of its population which was women.
“I think it is good when you are having the opportunity to mentor other people and people see you as having contributed something. Women constitute about half of the population in ratio of almost one to one. We need everybody to be able to contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
“We need women in the positions of transformation and then you cannot develop a nation when the cost on health is extremely staggering, even if it is in terms of taking care of the home fronts, women play significant role, they need to be educated. They need to know what to do to maintain a balanced of well being and the livelihood of the society on which they live. Only people who are active and healthy can successfully drive the economy” she added.
Another 2017 MMS WoFHoF inductee and Managing Director of Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Dr. Lucy Newman said her induction into the Hall of Fame was a humbling experience as it would cause her to sit down in a room and think about what she did to make her deserve such recognition and what she could give back to the society especially young Nigerian women.
“It is an honour and privilege to be so recognized by this Money Management Series (MMS) initiative. Women are awesome and I am privileged to be one of them. When I got the letter, I was amazed and I started asking them: what are the criteria, what did you see and all that. What this has taught me is that, no matter what you find yourself doing; people are watching. If you do it right, you leave the ladder for others to climb, if you do it wrongly, you have not only cut the ladder, but you have also shut the door against many others” she said.
However, the Chairperson, Board of Trustees of the MMS WoFHoF and Chairperson of the occasion, Barr. Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi expressed joy to be part of an initiative that continues to set standards in the maritime industry and other sectors in the country.
Orakwusi said “We are here today to celebrate excellence, distinction and to celebrate being a woman. We are not fighting to take over from the men; all we are saying is that we should look for quality. We should also give adequate representation to our women. We are mothers in the home, we build the home, we start by carrying the baby in our womb and the journey only begins there. We should not shy away from the responsibility of leadership and to our men, we also say please appoint women who are qualified to head several positions.”
Speaking further on mentorship, she said “we should always remember that because we all come from different backgrounds, one thing unites us, we all have villages where we come from, our mothers in the villages, even up to date mentor the young ones in the act of cooking, act of keeping home, act of really being a proper Nigerian woman. What they don’t have, we have! And that is the profession we hold in law, medicine, etc. We need to fill that gap; we need to use these areas of distinctions to mentor the young ones because they don’t teach them the practical in the universities. So, be generous with your time, be generous with your office and let’s groom the young ones”
Nigeria is a patriarchal society characterized by acute discrimination, exclusion; inequality and impunity. These features are also reflected in its politics especially, as they relate to issues of gender imbalance. In Nigeria, the issue of marginalization of women within the economy and gender disparities in the provision of education, employment and general recognition in other spheres of life still generates a healthy debate.
Women have been the most exploited, the most underprivileged, the worst abused and the most relegated segment of the society, yet women comprise a majority of the population, they nonetheless are often treated like a minority group assigned a definite place in the societal order, denied access to careers and power in the public arena and viewed as dependent, weak and submissive by nature.
This trend is already taking a striking twist and MMS WoFHoF has provided a beautiful platform where women can network, share experiences, motivate one another and mentor the next generation of Nigerian amazons.
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