Despite their huge population, women have not been able to liberate themselves from men’s control. They are always at the receiving end at times of crisis; a condition that affects them socio-economically and educationally. All this impinge on their fundamental human rights.
Worried by this unsavoury circumstance, the association of wives of political office holders, top female civil servants and female political appointees in Oyo State had, in the last six years, championed the cause of women in order to re-define the perception of women and chart a new course for them. The association is known as Oyo State Officials’ Wives’ Association (OYSOWA).
Founded in 2012, the founder and wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, said her intention was to mobilise women to support the state Government’s 3-Point Agenda of Restoration, Transformation and Repositioning of Oyo State.
The idea has transformed into a movement for women education, advocacy, empowerment and re-invigoration.
Since its inception, the association has been nurturing women for the challenges of life. They are also being positioned on how to positively support their families. They are sensitised to the need to identify achievers; particularly women and children in their chosen fields of endeavours, recognising and celebrating them to encourage other women.
Every year, the association chooses a theme for a three-day conference that is relevant to current challenges that women go through.
While explaining that the focus of the association was beyond politics, Mrs. Ajimobi said: “Our main goal is to promote healthy behaviour and practices by enhancing knowledge of common health conditions, to provide the support and training women need to be economically self-sufficient and become leaders in their communities, and to provide access for women of Oyo State to be experts in the fields of law, medicine, finance, physical fitness, and others through of OYSOWA events.”
2017 Conference
The 6th edition of the National Women Summit was held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital from Wednesday to Friday last week. What began as a mere gathering of Oyo women has grown into a national event that attracts international participants.
Noted to attract successful, notable and accomplished women to impact on other women, no fewer than 1,000 women gathered for three days at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan for this year’s OYSOWA National Summit with the theme “The Resilient Woman: Making a Difference.”
Aside from four governors who were present at the opening ceremony, international speakers that attended the event included former Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr. Joice Mujuru, former First Lady of the Republic of Liberia, who is also a Senator and a Vice-Presidential Standard Bearer of the National Patriotic Party in the ongoing election in Liberia, Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, the Nigerian Minister for Women Affairs, Senator Aisha Alhassan and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, among others.
At least wives of 21 governors, wives of former governors, wives of Senators (both retired and serving); female political appointees from different parts of the country also attended the summit.
The governors who attended the event were Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa) and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Osun).
On hand to lend support to one of their own were the wives of the governors of Lagos, Enugu, Abia, Osun, Imo, Delta, Nasarawa, Edo, Ogun, Kebbi and Zamfara State; while those of Sokoto, Ondo and Ekiti states were represented.
Dignitaries’ view on women
Dignitaries, including the governors and international speakers were unanimous in their calls for more support for women.
Leading the call for support for women in decision-making efforts, Governor Ajimobi, said women have pivotal roles to play in the development of Nigeria. He urged women to “make the needed difference in the world” going by their ability to recover faster and better from whatever disappointment or fall they might have suffered.
In his goodwill message, Governor Dickson of Bayelsa State noted that without the support for women, many of the governors and political office holders would not have achieved as much as they had.
“We are at a very critical point, and I want to use the opportunity to encourage all women not to lose hope, to keep pushing and keep fighting in support of worthy courses,” he said.
Aregbesola also noted that men alone cannot evolve a better society without the support of women, saying “with good, caring, accommodating, and tolerant women, men will be well-groomed to be good leaders.”
In his remarks, Governor Ambode explained that from cradle to grave, resilience was what the women folks are all about. He challenged them to be conscious of the enormity of potential, strength and capabilities that are innate in them which have enabled them to survive all forms of challenges.
The yearnings of former Zimbabwean Vice-President and the ex-Liberian First Lady were for women to fight against old beliefs that present them as weaker sex, especially to men. They stressed that the nature of a woman makes her naturally stronger even without the physical strength of the male gender.
Narrating her experience, the ex- Zimbabwean Vice-President said her emergence as the first female Vice-President of Zimbabwe in 2004, a position she held for 10 years, did not come on a platter of gold.
Her words: “We must have the desire to make a positive transformational difference and not be satisfied by being helpers of men. The major driver behind our positive transformation must be anchored on our ability to implement a unique vision, which must arouse the consciousness of the African society.
“We cannot continue to play a second fiddle simply because of gender. Women must take up leadership roles not because they are being favoured by their male counterparts but because they are capable.”
Expressing the same view in her address, Howard-Taylor said: “Women are currently in difficult circumstances across our world and especially, in Africa; as we struggle to deal with issues of violence against women, unequal opportunity and lack of economic opportunities.
“Women must tell their own stories to inspire those who think they cannot make it to the top. We must mentor the next generation of women leaders.
“There should be economic empowerment and political emancipation for African women. I believe that is the thrust of this conference and that is the thrust of the wife of Oyo State Governor for us to know how to network and work together so that we can empower one another to achieve our greatest feat.”
Harping on the topic
To emphasise the importance of the topic, guest speakers were facilitated to talk on various issues as they relate to resilience and why it is important. Some of the guest speakers in attendance were Mrs. Yewande Zaccheus, who spoke on the topic “Survival Secrets of the Resilient Woman”, Mrs. Olajumoke Adenowo, who presented the topic, “Unearthing Your Hidden Treasures”, Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi who spoke on “Loud Whispers” and “Making Lemonades out of Lemons”, presented by Mrs Mobolaji Adeniyi, an Architect.
Other areas speakers focused on were Financial Intelligence for the 21st Century Woman, Health and Lifestyle Management, Becoming the Best, Climbing Up (building movements not walls and Innovation, Entrepreneurs and politics).
While challenging women on the topic “Becoming the Best”, Kehinde Kamson noted that the journey of a thousand miles doesn’t begin with a step but with knowing oneself. She said: “Women should change their mind-set and know that they can be excellent and reach heights imagined. Change your mind-set and know that you can be excellent. Discover yourself as a woman to be the best.”
Speaking on the topic “Health and Lifestyle Management, Ifeanyi Ighodalo, urged women to “spend more time with your loved ones because, you are happier when you are with people who you care about. Avoid negativity and negative people. Spend more time with positive people. Eat healthy, drink healthy and communicate your problems as it will help you with accurate diagnosis. Learn to talk about your feeling.”
Omilola Oshikoya in her presentation entitled “Financial Intelligence for the 21st Century Woman” said: “When you can create value, you will not have to chase money, money will chase you. While Nigerians are striving to run away from Nigeria, others are running to Nigeria to take the money available by creating value. We need to take advantage of Nigeria and its peculiarities to create value in order to make money”
Choice of topic
Mrs. Ajimobi said the theme for this year’s summit was coined out of the group’s appraisal of the life of the average woman and how she is able to survive and succeed against all odds. In the course of this appraisal, we discovered that the greatest strength of a successful woman is her resilience.
“A woman is therefore only able to make a difference in her society and the world at large if she is able to recover quickly from the setbacks and vicissitudes that life may throw across her path. These setbacks could be financial, physical, emotional or even psychological. It is not these drawbacks that matter but how we are able to deal with them and return to status quo after being bent, compressed or stretched by the issues of life.
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel. It is man’s injustice to woman. If strength is assumed to be brute strength, then indeed women are less brute than men. If strength is assumed to be moral power, then women are immeasurably superior to men,” she said.
