In order to empower and inspire confidence in young girls, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (Wimbiz) has held mentorship programmes in some parts of the country.
The event, which came under the theme, ‘Big Sister programme’ targeted girls between the ages of 13 and 17 in select secondary schools.
Speaking at New Era Senior Girls’ secondary school, Surulere, one of the select schools for mentorship in Lagos, Hansatu Adegbite of Wimbiz, said the programme which held in six different parts of th e country including Abuja, Uyo, Bonny, Lagos, Ibadan and Port Harcourt was developed in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of Wimbiz.
Adegbite also explained that the programme hoped to inspire confidence in the young girls, build leadership capacity and prepare them for life after school.
According to her, the girls were mentored for a day by accomplished female professionals in various fields of endeavour who are committed to the development of the girl child.
The participants were trained on how to set a goal, identify their career and entrepreneurial paths and how to improve on weak subjects.
Speaking also at the training, Vice Principal of New Era Senior Girls’ Secondary School Surulere, Biola Olumide Omotayo lauded the organisers of the programme, saying that the event would go a long way in encouraging the girls to develop more interest in business.
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Explaining that some of the students were already into online trading, he said: “This seminar is a great opportunity for them to improve on the online businesses they are doing, it is going to impact so much on them.”
On the challenges facing girls in the society, Omotayo, said they include, insecurity, rape and child marriage among others.
However, he appealed to the government at all levels to proffer a lasting solution to high level of insecurity in the country.
“A lot of girls are been kidnapped and raped particularly in the northern part of the country. It is sad to note that the girls who should be protected and nurtured are facing such life-threatening challenges in their home country and nothing is been done about that,” he added.
In addition, he condemned the issue of child marriage, saying, it is unacceptable.
“These girls should not be given to early marriage; they should be left alone to face their future. Marriage age in Nigeria is 18 and above, once a girl is less than 18, they should not be allowed to go in to marriage because they are still children and need to be trained. They need to be mentored and guided to become wives. When they are allowed to be trained on skills before marriage, they will become more useful to themselves, their families and future homes,” he said.
Some of the participants at the seminar who spoke in interview with BusinessDay Sunday appreciated the effort of Wimbiz in training them in that capacity.
They described the seminar as apt and added that it would go a long way in shaping their entire life.
“We learnt a lot in this Big Sister Programme, it is quite impactful, we are optimistic that the knowledge acquired will help us a lot in life. It is an experience we will not forget soon,” they submitted.
