By Vivian Onyebukwa
March 8 each year is the celebration of the International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s a day that women across the world come together to celebrate the accomplishments of fellow women, deliberate on issues and crave action in support of women and their causes.
The theme for this year’s IWD is titled: Accelerate Action.
On that day, Eko Hotels and Suites brought together about 300 women from different walks of life to celebrate this special day. It was an informal night of fun, laughter, networking and uplifting conversations, and more.
Dr Iyadunni Gbadebo, Director, Sales and Marketing, Eko Hotels & Suites, while speaking at the event described the international women’s day celebration as a time to accelerate action. “It means time to stop thinking about the things that I want to achieve and start action in the things that I want to achieve. IWD means a day to support and encourage other women and pour out of my lap that which is full, to be able to fill up the cups.”
She stated the need for women to support and encourage other women. According to her, because there is need for them to know that they are not alone in whatever they are facing in life- whether it is in their career, marriage, or friendships with other women. “It is important to start seeing yourself as somebody who is living an intentionally purposeful life,” Dr Gbadebo added.
Further highlighting the importance of encouraging each other, she described the event put together by the hotel as an encouragement for women to always let their lights shine. “IWD is more than a day women begin to wake up to reality of what we need to do to encourage each other to accelerate action. The kind of action does not start and end with us. We are positioning ourselves to not just be about fixing our problems that exist on our continent, but actually activating and accelerating actions in fixing these problems. So it is important that the right kind of women who have been burnt, fallen and risen again, struggled to maintain the dignity of being a woman -the essence of being a woman, to start coming out and start being role models and mentors,” Dr Gbadebo added.
She lauded Eko Hotels & Suites for initiating this kind of programme. “What other way is there to celebrate IWD than with the people from whom we make a living and all the people we spend working hard to create a moment for. It is important to celebrate women. To some women, it is the only time they have to celebrate themselves”.
She regretted that women who have worked very hard to get to where they are, are not the real role models that are putting themselves out there for younger women to satisfy their hearts’ desire, describing it as unacceptable.
The event had a lineup of guest speakers who shared their experiences and challenges as women in various fields of human endeavours. They spoke about their journeys, vulnerability, and challenges they face, making a compelling case for women to strive for more to be the best that they can be.
Ngozi Akintujoye of OJ and T Ltd, Lead Senior Executive, CNN International, emphasised the need for women to take action as she spoke on the theme, “Work Life Balance”. She highlighting the importance of “priorities, structure, time management, and boundaries, and challenged women to identify and overcome limitations.”
“It is being able to handle the challenges that arise at home and work, whilst making sure they don’t interfere with each other. It is a problem when there is no balance for the two. I want women to tackle those things that limit them from accelerating. So enough talking, enough learning. It’s time to be conscious of what it is that limits them, and it is time to start doing”.
Bimbo Oladiran, CEO, Subtle Elegance Event, explained how she has taken her passion with her. “In everything that I do, I pour my life into it- My work, family, everything. You have to live for something. Otherwise, you end up living for nothing”.
Chinwe Bode-Akinwande, Head of Sponsorship, First Bank, while speaking, emphasised the importance and significance of kindness as currency among women. “If you dare live a life of kindness, that is how you can give back kindness. And because women are beautifully and wonderfully made, it’s just that it makes sense that we help each other.”
Funmi Gwombe, Founder, Event Nanny, said: “With the theme, Accelerate Action”, and this year being 30 years since the Beijing Conference, and we are analysing how far we have come as women, if we want to be honest with ourselves, truly women have made a lot of strides. We have a lot of women now heading organisations in the banks, in the entertainment industry, and so on. We have a lot of them speaking for on behalf of women. However, we still have a long way to go.”
Another speaker, Zainab Ashadu, Interdisciplinary Artist and Creative Director, reinforced the event’s theme by noting that “meaningful change doesn’t happen by accident, but when we consciously reclaim our energy and direct it with purpose.”
She noted that it takes courage to be whole and urged women to takes the courage to retain their energy, own their powers. “Start to understand your full power and start listening to your inner power,” she said.
Kike Atanda-Owo Abati, Journalist/CEO Z-Edge Limited, called on men to support women. She noted that women have been standing for themselves by themselves, but they need men to stand up for women too.”
Toluwani Odukoya, Associate Senior Pastor, The Fountain of Life Church, reminded women of their inherent strength: “Every woman is powerful, every woman has influence.” She advocated mutual support among women, urging them to stop the competition and complement each other.
One other speaker was Oluwobunmi Ibitoye, Head Business Development, Zaron, among others.
One of the guests, Tolu Ijogun described women as light, which is the first light that shines in the lives of the children. “A beautiful bright light birthed by God and placed on a stand to make a difference. Women have been standing for themselves and by themselves, but we need men to stand up for us too. It starts from our fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, sons. For sharing their journey/ vulnerability, they made a case for women to strive more and achieve their full potential”.
Beyond the speeches, the women were entertained. They danced and won prices.