Nigeria I AM VOL.12 PEOPLE PLACES CULTURE ACHIEVERS SPECIAL EDITION CELEBRATING SUPER INSPIRING, ENTERPRISING & IMPACTFUL NIGERIAN WOMEN ACHIEVERS I N P A R T N E R S H I P W I T H
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T h e L e a d e r s h i p a n d E c o n o m i c Development of a Nigerian Woman is not only in her interest, it’s in our national best interest. Hence, enhancing Women’s Leadership Capacity and Economic Development improves living standards and household productivity;itenhancesthegeneralwellbeingofthefamilyandNigeriaatlarge. Our goal through this platform is to Stimulate Open, Robust and Inclusive Conversation around Leadership, Social, Economic and Culturalbarriersthatstand in the way of women and girls as they pursue their own Leadership and EconomicDevelopment
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Righteven.breaknow, we export via other cumberprthatWnotcountriesAfricanandNigeria.efoundouttheocessislesssomeifyouareexportingfromotherAfricancountries.
I will argue 100 times that it is in our best interest as a nation to bring more women in, because when a woman is in a leadership position she is focused.”
”
Amazing Women came out of the 50 Million African Women Speak Platform. We were looking for a sustainability plan for the project; so, we felt, why don't we take advantage of our number?
Tell us a bit about yourself and the space where you work?
We came together, formed a cooperative and started lending ourselves money at a single digit. The idea is basically to empower ourselves, to expand our businesses without stress and also to build a community of women with like minds. Agriculture seems to be the rave of the moment, everyone is moving toward that direction. In terms of export, what role do you think women like you can play in that space? Agriculture is the next oil of Nigeria. Anybody that is looking into a space to go into, I will tell you that you can never go wrong with agriculture. There is no amount of trailer load of maize that you will take to Ibadan today that you will not sell, same with paddy Although,rice.it's quite challenging being a woman playing in that space; it requires me going to the far end of the forest with all this insecurity. But we have been able to build a structure, whereby we have various agents and merchants that we work with. And then for export, export is quite a very big market. It's not a market that saturisated. It's reallythatsomethingifyouwant to go into it, you will
It's easier to export from other countries than from Nigeria. Reason being that over there, there is less corruption, there is a process, you don't need to go look for who to settle at the back end, everything has a process and there are checks and balances. In terms of women representation in governance and corporate boardroom, how would you rate Nigeria on a scale of 1-10?
I'm Ambassador, Dr. Ajibike Saratu Oluwatimilehin; I'm the CEO of Jo-sem Enterprises Limited; I'm also the country manager for the 50 Million African Women Speak Platform and the convener of the Amazing Women Cooperative Society. I'm a gender advocate, and by virtue of that I oversee several projects that have to do with women. For my personal business, I'm into agro commodities and exports.
Amazing Women Cooperative sounds quite interesting, what is it all about?
On a scale of 1-10, I will rate us 2. I will only say it's getting better, but we are not there yet and there still a lot of work to do. We need the bills to be passed, we need more women representation in governance.Thetruthofthe matter is that it is easy to say a man is making policies for you, but you don't know how it feels. We are the ones that know ourselves. How a man will judge a woman is different. For me unless we have that 35% representation both in corporate governance and public life, women will still be backward.
ACHIEVERS POWERED BY Nigeria I AM in CONTACT INFORMATION Angela Ajala EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: LADELA SCHOOLS agelaajalaajala.angel@gmail.comAngelaAjalaAngelaAjalawww.angelaajala.com
children will tell you that they don't know where chickens come from, some children of today have no clue as to where the food that they eat come from, and how it is produced. So it's a form of education because food is one of the most important things in the world and you have to be part of that system. If you live in the city, you can plant in sacks, you can plant in flower pots, you can have all your little little vegetables. It's not everything you go to the market to buy When you bring something to the table in Nigeria of today, no man will say no, because no man can adequately cater for a home right now with what we see today.
” ”
Communications is very important, many times there is breakdown in communication, the man does not understand what you are going through because you are not speaking. It's important that you communicate rightly in your marriage so that everyone can be on the same page.
One of the reasons why we went into agriculture is because of mindset orientation. You know the mindset that farmers are poor that is the perception, people have. So, the idea is to change it even from the school that you are part of the food security of your nation. That you are part of making sure that we do not have a food shortage in the country. You are proud of the fact that you are part of a production team and so we began by making sure we incorporate that into our students Somehere.
Tell us a bit about yourself and the ecosystem where you work? My name Angela Ajala, I'm an alumni of Ahmadu Bello University, my first and second degrees. I did an entrepreneurial course at the Centre for Enterprise Development centre Lagos Business School. I have been in the education and training industry now for 30 year and I have traversed all the levels of education from early years to primary to secondary and tertiary education. I have coached a lot of businesses in the education ecosystem. I have also had the privilege of leading different women organizations for the past 50 years. In the the education industry, I was on the board for Technical Education appointed by the Jonathan regime. That also exposed us to the fact that Technical Education is also key in moving forward, because many of the education out there are not skills based, it's just paper qualification. I'm an author; I have written books to support my education industry to make sure people run the business of education well. What kind of education does Ladela Schools offer? We are very particular about practical hands-on skills, our education is 70% practical and 30% theory. The children will internalize, they will remember and they will do better if they are part of the solutions they are profering.Mathandenglish we will always pass, but the application of your mind to think and be able to solve problems, to be able to be a team player, to be able to come out with innovations that will add value to where you belong to, those are the skills that we are teaching, because the job of the future, we don't know them yet but if we prepare our children in those areas they can match any job of the future.
Why is it that a lot of men feel threatened when their wives start bringing more to the table? Every home is peculiar and our backgrounds are different, but it's important to know that just because you want to be a career woman or business woman, the home should not suffer. So it's not right that because you are pursuing a business, when it's time for the man to eat, his food is not available. The house is untidy, the children are not well kept. You cannot make your home suffer just because you are a business woman. There has to be a balance to make sure there is peace in the Whenhome.you bring something to the table in Nigeria of today, no man will say no, because no man can adequately cater for a home right now with what we see today. You want to give your children a good education. Every man will crave that support, it's the way the woman now puts that support by not balancing the home and her work that brings the friction.
How do we solve Youth unemployment problem, leveraging innovations like the Global Ladela Agro-allied farm initiative?
ACHIEVERS POWERED BY Nigeria I AM in CONTACT INFORMATION DR. AJAYI ELIZABETH OLUFEMI FOUNDER: HONEYCOMB UNIQUE COLLEGE, IBADAN. ajayi_elizelizeloluffemiajayi46@gmail.comemiabeth-ajayiAjayiElizabethabeth
When we started, we did not have a stroke. And God helped us because he is very faithful, but you see these days they are not ready to wait for God's faithfulness, the ladies all want it now and by all means. My message to them is to know their purpose of existence, because many of them have not discovered their purpose.
First, before I embark on anything, when i say anything, including our children's school, i will go to God and ask should we go ahead. If God tells us to go ahead then, that's the final. And God has been really helping my family. I'm always mentioning family because If your family is settled, you yourself you are settled. If your children are settled, you are settled. Academically if they are settled, you are settled, morally, if they are settled you are settled.
Seyi Makinde is after the welfare the masses, he is paying salaries as at when due, taking care of women and the elderly. My governor is really carrying women along, I don't know about other states but here in Oyo there is no gender barrier; Governor Seyi Makinde is a super governor. My children are my glory and my family is number 1. ” ”
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
When you talk about achievemnt as a woman, irrespective of your attaimment, family is number 1. Your family is number 1 as a woman, because the moment a woman shoots up in her career, there is likely going to be issues at home. For me, God has really helped me to balance it up. The more reason why i resigned from my former place of work was to be able to cater for my children; to monitor them and know who exactly they are. Most women these days are afetr money. A lot of them go to work very early in the morning and come back very late at night leaving the welfare of their children to their housemaids. For me, I think that is really not too cool. My children are my glory and my family is number 1. What will be your word of advice to young women out there?
college,Honeycombwhat is it all about and what kind youeducationofdooffer?
Looking at the political landscape in oyo, where you are from, how well are women represented in governance? I'm a big advocate of women representation, not just in politics but everywhere. In terms of women representation in governance in Oyo state, my Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde has dismantled a lot of barriers holding women down in Oyo Governorpolitics.
prtimesotrAlso,moment.flourishingsccityeducationandprNurPrimarSecondarcollegeHoneycombisay,yandserySchoolovidingsoundexcellentintheofIbadan.ThehoolisattheI'maainedArchitect,fromtimetoistillactice,while providing oversight to the leadership of the school. I can say i'm very satisfied in my own little space. What is the one thing you are most proud of as a woman?
My name is Dr. Ajayi Elizabeth Olufemi, I hail from Oyo State. I started my primary education in Ile-Ife. After my primary education, I proceeded to secondary school immediately and in 1987, I gained admission into Polytechnic Ibadan where I did my pre-ND program in Architecture. After that I continued with my ND and HND respectively.In1994,Iwas posted to Warri, in Delta State for my mission. Then I returned to Ibadan for a greener pasture, but it wasn't as expected. I started a liquid soap production business. Afetr a while, I decided to get married, when I got married I couldnt do anything until after a year when I started teaching at St Louis gramamr school, Ibadan. That was in 1999. Later I was gainfully employed, So i worked at the teaching service commission of oyo state for almost 15 years and after that I left to take care of my family because my husband is a very busy person.
ACHIEVERS POWERED BY Nigeria I AM HAJIYA SAMEERA ABUBAKAR FOUNDER: BETTER LIFE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN FOUNDATION
The gender gap in Nigeria is very wide, in what ways can we close that gap and bring more women into governance? This is a global issue, not peculiar to Nigeria alone. I was in Dubai and we had a women leadership program where women from many countries gathered to discuss issues that affect women. There was a particular woman from the US who told us about how she got a job; the previous person that held her position was a man. So she got the same job but the salary was reduced because she is a Genderwoman.issue is not only a Nigerian issue, it's a global problem. In Some cases, Nigeria is even better off. I believe that something a man can achieve in 100 years, a woman can achieve it in one year because she can multitask and she can do 100 things at once because that is how God created us. If Nigeria should have more women in governance we will do a lot better. You were very active in the 2019 election, what was the experience like for you as a woman? I was a vice presidential candidate in 2019 and I was very naive then. We thought we could change Nigeria just by being a part of a new political party burning with fresh ideas. The party had so many elites, but you see, elites always think in one direction but it is never like that in politics. I realized that, as women, we have to support each other, and one of the problems with us women is that we do not agree; we are our own problem. This is a conversation that we are yet to have.
Tell us a bit about yourself and the work that you do. My name is Hajiya Sameera Abubakar; I'm a Politician, a Serial Entrepreneur and a Farmer. I export Hibiscus Flower and Sesame to China and Dubai and we also do Rice. I'm a member of a lot of associations locally and internationally. I'm the P.R.O. of the Association of Nigerian Business Women Network; a coalition of 62 women organizations. I'm the National Secretary of NACCIMA Youth Entrepreneurs, that is the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture. I'm the Cofounder of SHE FARMERS and Youth Focus. I have my own foundation; Better Life for Women and Children Foundation. We have well over 80 women and 176 Orphans under the platform. For the orphans, our focus is on education and for the women we focus on agriculture. Jaiz Bank has been very helpful in that regard; they have financed almost 500 women with 2 million naira loan each and the women have paid back the loans. So far, we are not doing badly How challenging has it been for you working in the Export Space? For me, it has not really been that challenging, except a few bottlenecks here and there. You know, it's prwillsharcornersomewetexporchallengingtingfromNigeriaomostcountries,sosendtoDubaiandfromDubaiweexporttoanycountry.Again,ofuscuts,wewantitp-sharpandifyouwantitthatway,youdefinitelyhaveoblems.Butofcoursethisisbusiness,therewilldefinitelybesomelittlelittleissuesfromtimetotimebutweareforgingahead.
I was the state chairman of ANRP Kano and it was like a woman from the north? The same women were the ones that also pulled me back. It was really tough for me and because of my family I had to step down. I have decided to focus on my foundation because I realized that if I can not make it up there, I can start from somewhere and that somewhere is education and that is what we lack in Nigeria. Our system of education is so poor that the school goes through us, we don't go through the school; it is just to get the certificate, but my foundation is focused on changing that narrative.
I believe that something a man can achieve in 100 years, a woman can achieve it in one year because she can multitask ” ”
Well, thanks to President Buhari, his regime actually made everybody a farmer; we are all proud farmers now. Farming is really great and profitable and it's something that we have to take seriously as a nation. I think what we need to do is to put in a policy that will require every region to produce at least one product. Something like One State, One Product and we can do it because we have enormous agro products that are Nigeriaperishing.canfeed the entire population of Africa, we are abundantly blessed, even though the government is not really looking in that direction. One State, One Product can transform Nigeria.
In terms of job creation do you think Nigeria can leapfrog out of poverty leveraging agriculture?
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