Bianca Iboma
Women have been advised to change their mindsets by embracing the uniqueness of their womanhood to achieve balance and happiness. Dr. Pamela Ajayi, Managing Director, SYNLAB Nigeria, gave the advice during the International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration in Lagos.
She said balance and wholeness begin from the brain, being the powerhouse of everything affecting the woman’s health.
She advised women to be observant: “The mindset you have has been proven to be the determinant of success or failure and the critical balance is between expectations and reality.
“Achieving that balance starts from the brain which is crucial to the wellbeing of a woman. Balance is not static and can be achieved in spite of several factors that disrupt it.’’
Dr. Ama Onyerinma, the convener of the group, said she is passionate about the welfare of women especially those who have been forcefully abused: “We have been doing advocacy on issues related to violence against women and children, empowerment and education for marginalised children since inception.
“Women should ensure that children of both sexes were not raised differently to achieve the goal of gender equality. They should be trained to behave nicely when they do certain things like messing up the floor, instead of asking the guys to take care of that mess the boys should do so without preference.
“I say to all women here to be challenged out of their comfort zones to thrive. Everyone should be involved in participating in the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This includes health, inclusive education, healthy well-being for all ages, reducing inequality and the promotion of peace, justice and strong institutions.
“We must end gender disparity and appreciate the work women do. We must also empower the girl child. We need to keep the girl child in school. More than 13.2 million Nigerian children are out of school, 60 percent (eight million) of which are girls. This is a major crisis. We need to change the status quo. Our girls need to grow up into women that would positively change the society.”
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Lola Akande, represented by Mrs. Kudirat Ajimoti, advised women to be emotionally intelligent in handling issues of gender harassment by loving self above society’s expectations: “The reality is that self-love is very crucial and when you love yourself, you will feed yourself with the right food for your mind, soul and spirit to achieve greatness.’’
The Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule, urged women to be ethical in the discharge of their duties in spite of societal norms. She appealed to them to keep learning and reading to enhance performance at the work place: “It is easier to make an impact in a developing country than a developed one.
“When you sign an offer letter, you are agreeing with what is contained therein and must do your best at achieving the goal. Women should acknowledge that imperfections and failures were part of life and must do everything to get up from it.”
Zonal Commander of the National Agency for the prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Daniel Atokolo, said massive deception, poverty and lack of information aided human trafficking and something must be done to end it.