• Friday, March 29, 2024
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NOUN student emerges winner as Spotlight African Network celebrates grassroots women

NOUN student emerges winner as Spotlight African Network celebrates grassroots women

A sweeper of the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), Kadijat Adekunle, has been unveiled as the winner of the Spotlight Africa Women 2020, a contest organised to recognise grassroots women who display exceptional commitment in their ordinary jobs.

Out of 29 contestants, Adekunle, also a student of Mass Communication at the National Open University (NOUN), emerged winner after polling a total of 20, 000 votes out of a total 24, 959 votes.

Filled with joy and gratitude and expressing same feelings while receiving the award of N200, 000 and a glass plaque; she said she never expected so much votes from Lagosians and thanked her husband who was the main driver of the votes.

Although Adekunle emerged the overall winner, the honour, however, was extended to other women who received a certificate of participation and other gift items each. A raffle draw was also conducted to ensure everyone went home with a prize.

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Held in Lagos, the event tagged ‘Women Making a Difference Community Service Leadership Awards’ is as an initiative of Spotlight African Network.

BusinessDay gathered that the award was created to celebrate ordinary women who have “turned their mundane jobs into a splendid place of magnifying calling”.

Nonye Mike-Nnaji, Lawyer, and president of Spotlight Africa said the organisation came up with the event to put the spotlight on ordinary women who have exhibited excellence, leadership, who have been able self-motivate themselves and turn their ordinary jobs into an extraordinary manifestation of their ability.

“These women who sweep the streets actually go home with just little but they wake up 4:30 in the morning, report to their place of duty and they sweep Lagos.

“Lagos is a megacity, one of the most populous cities in the world and these women keep this city clean. They show that hard work pays, diligence pays and showing leadership actually pays,” said Mike-Nnaji.

According to her, during COVID-19, Ebola, these women, described as ‘Ladies in the Orange Jumpsuit,’ kept sweeping, and keeping Lagos clean; stating the women are the COVID heroes and they need to be celebrated.

She said that the motivating factor was also to celebrate women, not only sweepers but also grassroots women who are heroes in what they actually do in Africa—making a difference.

Sharing his thoughts about the event, Ibrahim Odumboni, managing director, LAWMA, said the sweepers have been their heroes over the years, and have shown how reliable they have been in keeping the state consistently clean, even also in 2020, a year that has been the most challenging for everyone on the planet.

“We have over 15,000 sweepers in the state, and we experience a very good turnout throughout the year despite the challenges of the year, but these people have been the real heroes,” Odumboni said.

Odumboni also urged the sweepers to pay attention to their health and safety on the job. He said that LAWMA has provided them with cones to protect them while on the road.

He added that his organisation is also challenging their supervisors to ensure that while they are sweeping, their supervisors need to keep an eye on the road to look out for dangers for them.

Odumboni further called on motorists to pay attention to the road when driving, and more so when you have a sweeper on the road, adding that it was very essential to pay extra attention because “they are not there to suffer any fatality.”

“We need to be very responsible in the way we drive and act. I want to appeal to every motorist in Lagos to pay as much attention as possible to the way you drive when all these ‘heroes’ are on the roads. They are the mothers of someone, they are daughters of people. So, it is very important that we keep their safety in check.

“At LAWMA, we’ll review all welfare and safety measures to find a way to improve that, and then we monitor how they are adhering to safety measures as well,” he said.