Women in Cross River State have been urged to build their capacity to enable them to remain relevant and contribute to the overall development of the society.
This was the focus of a conference organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and facilitated by the Centre for Women and Vulnerable Children, to mark this year’s International Women’s Day. The event held in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The organiser, Ifeoma Egbuonu, said the event with the theme “Balance for Better” was aimed at sensitising women to the need to know their worth and ensure they work towards being relevant wherever they find themselves.
“Women should be relevant wherever they find themselves. Whatever they do, they should ensure they are relevant by doing their best. They should put in their best and should not relent. Women should not continue to do things the way they have been done, but should try to be innovative. Women should also try to do it better and follow the trends. Start from somewhere and keep being relevant and doing things that would make them stand out,” she said.
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Egbuonu further said the conference focused on innovative ways to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure.
A corporate trainer, Serena Francis, who spoke at the conference whose participants were drawn from all walks of life, urged them to think, act and become who they want to be.
“I believe that the greatest demon to whom we want to be as women are ourselves. It comes from when you don’t believe. It comes from when you don’t see yourself as the person you were created to be. And if you can start that process of believing and then taking a step forward to acting, you will gradually start getting into that future that you desire.
“One of the greatest undoing to who we really are, is ourselves; women who do not believe that women can be great. Women are the ones who, for instance, perform female genital mutilation. It is women who stay at home with children and pass on the knowledge from mother to son and daughter. It is okay for the son to watch television and throws away his socks and bags when he comes back from school. But it is not okay when the daughter does it. For some reason, they don’t realise that it is not a man or woman thing. This is a tool for survival. Being arranged is a survival tool. Being able to cook is a survival tool.
“The reason that has continued to go on from generation to generation is that the woman at home with them is training their minds to think that way. If women can begin to realise and think differently, they would pass on new traditions to their children who will now live for generations to come and they would now begin to shape their minds even for future generations that the women can become anything they want in life. It starts from thinking. It starts from mindset and passes from generation to generation. Women should build their capacity. It is a struggle of self.
One of the participants, Pastor Stella Archibong, who described the conference as eye opening, said she had learnt to reinvent herself and be more self-confident.
“I now have more confidence as a woman and in building capacity to move ahead in life. Now I know that if you want to move a thing don’t wait until that thing moves. If you have to build capacity, get up and move it yourself. You don’t need to look for what you want outside. “Everything you want is inside of you and you can become whatever you want to become as a woman that you are. Women should not limit themselves or their capabilities. You can do it. If you believe in yourself, there is nothing that you cannot achieve,” Archibong said.
