28032019 - NATIONAL ASSEMBLY LEADERSHIP:All clear for Lawan; fresh crisis brews over Gbaja

Vanguard, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2019 — 41
Why Nigerian leaders should
champion emancipation of
women — Bode Adediji
Mr. Bode Adediji is the immediate past President of the Nigerian
Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers. In this interview, he
speaks on the need for government at all levels as well as other
organisations to champion the cause for the emancipation of the
Nigerian woman. He also x-rays some of the grey areas mitigating
against emancipation of women in Nigeria and how to redirect Nigeria’s
future towards integrating women into all spheres of life so that the
country can be better for it.
By Ebunoluwa Sessou
Real Estate is not a woman’s world,
why is that?
That is correct. Despite all efforts in the
past to bring more women on board in
this profession, it has been a major
challenge. It is more tragic in the sense
that most ladies who have gotten the
education as certified Estate Management
and Property professionals opt out in most
cases. They rather venture into other
things and as much as we (leaders) are
struggling to integrate women into this
profession, it appears that we have not
succeeded. But all hope is not lost because
there are certain aspects of the profession
that are women-friendly. For instance,
there are more women in Property and
Facility Management, Maintenance of
Property among others.
But when it comes to the area of
aggressive Estate Agency where it is
expected that women and men should be
competing, the environment is not
conducive for them to thrive. I am certain
that women do not want to be used as
marketing tools to source for clients and
that is the area I also frown at. I am an
advocate of allowing women and men to
compete on a level playing ground and
By Ebunoluwa Sessou
ONE of the keypoints of the 15 th
annual lecture of Women in
Management, Business and Public Service,
WIMBIZ, which held last week was the fact
that there is not enough funding for women
to venture into bigger businesses in the
country.
This particular issue as explained has
hindered thousands of women who
probably might have become employers
of labour still seen doing petty businesses
that could not sustain them.
In her opening remark, Olubunmi
Aboderin-Talabi, the current Chairperson
of WIMBIZ Executive Council
advocated for a more balanced and
diverse society. She congratulated the
first female deputy governor of Kaduna
State, Her Excellency, Hadiza Balarabe,
as she also stated that WIMBIZ will
continue to advocate for the inclusion
of women in management, business and
public service.
Aboderin-Talabi pointed out that the
topic for this year’s edition was designed
to encourage women to overcome
doubts. “The lecture was aimed at
addressing gender balance issues in
Nigeria and the limitations that
currently exist towards achieving it with
solutions on how to overcome them. The
lecture also seeks to equip delegates with
insight into the advantages of a balanced
society, outlining its necessity and the
role each individual plays towards a
brighter and better future,” she said.
once that is done with special protection,
education and enlightenment expected to
be given to them, you will find out that
women succeed more than men. It is a
known fact that women are more vibrant
and successful in companies than men.
Open doors
But, majority of women are not open to
opportunities in the areas of physical
construction and property development,
technical issues among others. Again, I
must say that women are not risk takers.
They always want to be within their
comfort zone rather than pursuing new
challenges.
With my 40 years of experience in this
profession, I would say that what we have
failed to do is create a special platform,
infrastructure, to bring more women into
the Real Estate industry. And
government on its own, at all levels, has not
seen the need to put up such thoughts in
encouraging, supporting and defending
women to venture into the Real Estate
industry.
What we were 30 years ago was not
what we were 10 years ago and what we
are going to be in 10 years to come is
certainly different from what we are now,
which simply means we should develop
policies that would help Nigerian women
to thrive in all spheres of human endeavour
especially industries that appear to be maledominated.
We must know that it is
practicable and not only be seen as theory.
It is not difficult to attain because other
countries have done it successfully.
Do you think it is the duty of Nigerian
leaders to champion the cause of women?
WIMBIZ 15th annual lecture:
Stakeholders harp on funding for women
The keynote speaker at this year’s
annual lecture, Bolanle Austen-Peters,
Founder & CEO, Bolanle Austen-Peters
Productions & Terra Kulture, said most
women have settled for less hence unable to
make a difference in their world.
Speaking to over 500 high profile women
in management, business and public service
on the theme: Balance for Better, Who said
so?, Austen-Peters explained that: “Women
are more averse to borrowing; we are more
careful and that poses a challenge in some
cases because men go
for the bigger pile. So,
a lot of women end up
doing petty businesses
as opposed to big
businesses. I think we
need to break out of
our shell. I think we
are fearful by nature
and we need to
overcome that.
“It is tough to raise
funds
but
institutions like the
Bank of Industry are
supportive and I
advocate that
women approach
the likes of the BoI
and other
development
institutions for
funding,” she said.
She urged women
to be bolder, saying
although more
could be done for
*Bode Adediji
women, they still owed it to themselves to do
what was good for them regardless of what life
or society throws at them.
Sharing her experience and how she has
broken through the gender balance issues to
be successful in business, she said: “Women
need to come together and support themselves.
We need more enlightenment programmes and
initiatives for women and to support each other.
“Challenge is a gender trait and it is quite
difficult for women. Women are more averse to
borrowing, so lots of women end up doing petty
*From left:WIMBIZ Annual Lecture Moderator, Didi Akinyelure;
founding member, Board of Trustees, Ifeoma Idigbe; Chairman, Board
of Trustees, Funmi Roberts, keynote speaker and Founder, Bolanle
Austen-Peters Production and Terra Kulture, Bolanle Austin-Peters;
founding member, Board of Trustees (WIMBIZ) & Partner, TLCOM
Capital, Dr. Omobola Johnson; founding member, Board of Trustees
(WIMBIZ) & CEO, DO.II Designs, Ifeyinwa Ighodalo at the WIMBIZ
15 th Annual Lecture held at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
No reason for any leader in any
sector of Nigeria to attempt to
shun policies and programmes
that would bring women into the
Real Estate and Property sector.
We have been to other countries
and seen how women dominate
the sectors. In Russia, you hardly
find a company without women.
In Germany, one of the most
successful leaders is a woman in
politics, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and she has done
that successfully. In Britain, with all
their powers, a woman has been
in charge. Therefore, if any
Nigerian leader thinks that the
understanding of women 20 years
ago which is ratio 10 per cent
women to 90 per cent men, is still
the same in this computer age,
that leader does not know what he
is doing.
In the family line, I have three
daughters and one son and I have
brought them up in a way that
none of them would feel inferior to
another. There is no difference in
their disciplines and I tried to
emphasise that to my wife on how
important it is to train both the
female and male equally and
encourage, support and invest the
same resources and energy in the
girl-child so as to be able to stand
shoulder to shoulder with the boychild.
Is there any special way to
train the girl-child?
There are some fundamental
things every parent should learn
when training the girl-child. Beginning from
the kind of programmes your children
watch on television, to the type of course
you persuade them to study in higher
institution. For instance, it is not out of
place to allow your children learn both
Science and Art courses so that they can
stand the test of time. The truth is that many
of these girls are better in Science courses
Continues on page 43
business. Men go for bigger
businesses. Women are more
careful such that they would not
want to take the risk.”
Speaking on politics, Austen-
Peters said: “Women are the
majority in Nigeria, there is no
reason they cannot be involved in
politics. Some of us have decided
to stay by the side. They should
start getting involved. We need to
do a lot more and we believe
nobody is capable of stopping us.
We need to support ourselves,” she
advised.
Concluding her lecture, Bolanle
Austen-Peters shared some key
guidelines that would help every
woman in the room to achieve
success in their various
endeavours. They include:
persistence, consistency,
innovation, and allowing one’s
dreams to evolve. The lecture
ended with a question and answer
session moderated by Didi
Akinyelure, Business
Correspondent at Thomson
Reuters.
The chairperson of the
occasion, Foluso Gbadamosi,
said the speaker was able to pass
on the message to women by
using her experience.
“I believe we should learn to
keep pushing against all odds.
She had so many experiences
that helped her through her
journey. I love the point that she
used real life experiences to
explain her points. When you
have a vision, you should learn
to keep pushing, even if the
society is not supporting you, you
should learn to be tolerant,” she
said.
C
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