Funmi Ogundare
A business leader and Founder, Women in Successful Career (WISCAR), Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, yesterday, harped on the need to develop women’s capacity in procurement businesses.
Oyagbola made this call while briefing journalists on its 2023 Annual Leadership and Mentoring Conference with the theme “In Her Own Words: Forging Ahead” that would hold on December 9, at the Muson Center, Onikan, Lagos, where the Chief Executive Officer of Ebonylife Group, Mo Abudu, is expected to deliver the keynote address.
She expressed concern that women in Nigeria have access to only one per cent of procurement contract while the men folks take about 99 per cent.
“That needs to change. You cannot say you have empowered a woman until she has access to her own capital. How will she gain capital if she is not given the opportunity to access funding?” she said.
She stated that organisations must also think towards including women in their procurement pipeline as this will drive innovation, productivity and efficiency.
She stated WISCAR’s readiness to partner with other women organisations to ensure the passage of the five gender bills which recommend the 35 per cent affirmative action for women in political party administration, quota for women in executive cabinet positions, reserve seats for women in federal and state Legislative Houses, as well as expanding state citizenship rights.
Oyagbola emphasised that the conference is designed to enhance knowledge on current affairs, discuss challenges affecting women and gender equality, encourage women to stand up and take political positions, as well as make sacrifices in the interest of the nation.
“Part of what we want to discuss include what we should be doing as a group, how can we be more strategic to encourage women to stand up and take political positions and make sacrifices in the interest of the nation?
“Women must be change agents and advocates. It is about women using their soft power to ensure concrete progress. We are looking forward for more appointment for women by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to drive gender equality,” she stressed.
