For three days, Tuesday, October 22 to Thursday, October 24, 2019, the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, was thrown into an extraordinary atmosphere, as women of colour and elegance, supported by men of political influence thronged the Eko Hotel and Suites.
Of course, the hotel, being a major attraction centre in Nigeria’s economic hub, is no stranger to women and men of brain and accomplishment in chosen fields of endavour, as top class events at the hotel are not in supply.
But the annual national women conference organised by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) is proving unrivaled.
For almost two decades, since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the COWLSO’s conference, slowly but steadily has grown in leaps and bounds, getting better and bigger with every passing year.
This is what played out at the 19th edition of the conference which attracted over 3,000 participants, mostly women, drawn from all walks of life.
Among them were ranking officials, including Aisha Buhari, wife of Nigeria’s president, represented by Dolapo Osinbajo, wife o the vice president; Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House of Representatives; Babajide Sanw-Olu, Lagos State governor; Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun State, his Kwara State counterpart, Abdulrahaman Abdulrazaq; Remi Tinubu, senator representing Lagos central senatorial district, among others.
With the theme: “unlearn, learn and relearn: 21st century women’s T.H.E.M.E.S perspectives/approach,” it was time again to discuss and dissect issues, especially those that have direct impact on women and the society.
Apart from the main theme, the conference equally featured other sub themes, including: “21st century woman-build not born to influence the society, entertainment and tourism: prism of possibilities, the total woman; entrepreneurship: making money and more money; agric entrepreneurship, financing and general trading, mould a child and build a greater generation, healthy woman – a healthier nation, maternal & child mortality, development and a healthy city – creating a balance, waste to wealth, and obey traffic laws.
The event was fully package to fortify the women with knowledge and skills that will make them relevant in a modern economy.
It was no surprised, therefore, that Nigeria’s first lady, Aisha Buhari called on wives of political office holders to work towards impacting the lives of women and the vulnerable in the society. According to her, wives of top government functionaries must create people-centred programmes to catalyse social change.
“One of the key tenets of COWLSO is the issue of restoration of values. I wish to call on more members to use the opportunity of this event to share ideas about ensuring that our children grow up morally upright, patriotic and with a sense of responsibility. We have a duty to raise better Nigerians,” said Aisha.
For Gbajabiamila, women possess natural ability to positively influence the society and education is critical in empowering them to play this role. Hence, the House of Representatives, according to Gbajabiamila would leverage legislative process to champion action that would challenge laws that limit women educationally and politically.
Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, first lady of Lagos State and chairman of COWLSO, the organiser of the conference, said it was packaged to open up women to their innate potential as well as position them to embrace new thinking towards a positive change in the society.
“It is the tradition of the conference to strategically empower women to contribute positively to the development of Lagos and Nigeria at large.
According to her, the theme for the 2019 edition of the national women conference was carefully selected in line with the vision and aspiration of the present administration to build greater Lagos of our dreams.
Ibijoke believed that in the days ahead, COWLSO would be investing its energy and resources implementing projects specifically tailored to strengthen the capacity of women to build resistance against disabilities that may limit their economic potential.
“As women, we must strategically position ourselves to take full benefit of the programmes of government. To unlearn means to do away with habits that are outdated and as well jettison practices that are against public good and public safety.
“In this 21st century, women must also embrace new ideas and new innovations to be relevant. Women must learn to think outside the box and even go a step further to think without the box, to fit into the modern society.”
She urged women to key into programmes of the state government in strategic sectors, including health, environment, agriculture, education, and investment opportunities for entrepreneurs.
Her husband and host governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who described the theme of the conference as harp, posited that it was to impart knowledge that would engender value re-orientation and equip women with skills that would make them relevant for life.
Sanwo-Olu observed that continuous learning and capacity building remained a potent tool to drive social change and that knowledge or mindset that stood against the growth of the society must be discarded.
“The goal of this conference is to impart knowledge on all the participants and equip them with relevant skills. The knowledge that will enable them contribute to the collective goal of building and delivering the Lagos we all deserve.
“Imparting knowledge is not only about adding new knowledge, which is the learning. It is also about reminding ourselves of old and unchanging truths, which is the re-learning. It is important that we discard ways of thinking that are no longer compatible with current realities. If impracticable knowledge is left unchallenged, it can stand in the way of our ability to imbibe and practise new knowledge. This is the un-learning.”
He informed the capacity audience that his administration has redefined gender balance in public administration with the appointment of 13 women into the state cabinet.
Empowering women with right skills and given them opportunity to be part of the decision makers, Sanwo-Olu noted, would set Lagos on the course of irreversible growth, economically and socially.
The implementation of the present administration’s six pillars of development, known as project T.H.E.M.E.S, he believed would not be effective without the support of women, citing waste management as one of the key areas where women would be playing key roles.
Abdulrazaq, kwara state governor, described the conference as ‘bold steps’ towards empowering women and making sacrifice for the development of Nigeria.
Governor Abiodun of Ogun, on his part, commended COWLSO for relevant to the development of Lagos since its establishment.
He believed that the conference was one of the ways to change negative narrative against women.
“The theme of the COWLSO conference has offered a template for strategic thinking towards changing negative narratives against women in our country. A 21st century woman must learn and re-learn. To hold a woman back is to hold a society back. Democratic values don’t support the relegation of women.”
As usual the case, some women whose works and activities empowered the less privileged were honoured at the event. They include founder of Real Women Foundation, Pastor Nike Adeyemi, who received the Inspirational Woman award for her dedicated service to the empowerment of women. Other honoured were Siju Iluyomade and Rosemary Ideh.
JOSHUA BASSEY
