Women have all its Takes to Change the World –WINEED

Zainab Tanimu-Kaduna, NIGERIA

Women have been described as well gifted creatures whose gift if well harnessed could place them on a better stance than where they are today.

This claim was made during a leadership workshop tagged: ‘Leadership Skills and Fund Raising Strategies organized by Women in Need (WINEED) Foundation yesterday in Kaduna.

The Executive Director of the Foundation, Barrister Biola Kamaldeen had described their hidden potentials as enormous. Women she said must rise up to their responsibilities. This she has attributed to why her foundation has taken it upon itself to better expose them to realizing their God gifted endowments as well as guide them on ways they could raise fund to enhance their political aspirations which she said is already yielding fruits.

“It is evidence in the number of women we have here today. ‘Women in Need’ is not a political party but a group of women that has come together and our main objective is to try to sensitize, mobilize and educate women on their needs.

We have women from 3 Local Government Areas (LGAs)   in Kaduna state. We have women from Makarfi, Sabon Gari and Chukun LGAs.

We are not only mobilizing women for political participation alone but also to groom them in other areas of their endeavor such as health, education, economic empowerment in order to be independent minded.

We are pressing for progress and we are really progressing in the mobilization of women for political participation”. She ended.

The Program Director of Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment, (WISE) Olanike Olugboji in her paper presentation titled: ‘Leadership Skills,’ had lamented that majority of women lack the vision to become a leader because of their dependent mindset.

The 35 percent affirmative action for women she said would remain a fallacy if the women do not rise up to their responsibilities by realizing the leadership potentials in them.

Women she stressed have all it takes to change the world; describing them as authors of their own change.

“A lot of us when we hear the word, leadership, we are not looking at ourselves. The 35% affirmative action would continue to be a fallacy if women don’t take their stand.

Every human being has a leadership potential. A lot of us don’t take responsibilities. We need to take responsibilities to create the kind of things we want that would bring about change.

Women have untapped resources that can change the story of this country for better, but they always fail to take up the challenges of leadership”.

Olanike expressing her disappointment said, a lot of time,  women always wait for people to do things for them and that has been a setback. Women should begin to believe in themselves for change to take place.

She however acknowledged the fact that there are cases whereby some women are tied down by some forces. Such obstacles she said should not be a reason for not trying to develop their potentials. She maintained.

“Nobody would give leadership to you. You have to work for it. The call for 35 per cent affirmative is not a struggle between the men and the women. It is never a call for equality by the women but for participation in the affairs of the nation.

A lot of times, we have not connected with ourselves, so we don’t know what we possess. A lot of things that we believe in ourselves limit us. You must have that power of vision. Invent a vision for yourself. It is about you creating that thing that would help you get out of where you are.

“There are a lot of potentials in women. Potentials that only needs to be unleashed but because women don’t have the platform to unleash it or because they are not thinking, they are where they are today. Nigerians are where they are today because; our leaders have to think for us. We need to begin to think and the truth is, that you don’t need to wait for a leader to bring you changes.

You must move to that place where you believe in yourself. You must move from that place of pathology to vision. She sounded.

A renowned Entrepreneur, Rahmatu Ibrahim who also delivered a paper on ‘fund raising strategies’ at the workshop said there is need for women to have focus. It is important for women to know how to raise money either for personal use or for political reason which could be achieved through personal saving, grants, loans or family.

While speaking, she said the issue of fund had always been a barrier to women seeking political offices as such, women must learn to network by joining different business associations in order to learn how to raise fund.

“Fund is a big barrier to our women politicians. This is why they need to learn how to raise fund. You need orientation.You need somebody to groom you, to teach you how to raise fund.

Women must be connected with likes minds in other to be more exposed. You need to go out and mix with people; you need to join different kinds of network and associations, from there, ideas of knowing how to make money in different ways comes up. She advised.

Speaking to newsmen, one of the participants Mrs. Esther Abba from Chukun Local Government Area of Kaduna state had described the training as very educative and that she was going to impact the knowledge to women in her community.

“ This is the third workshop l have attended and honestly, l have gained a lot. l have come out of my shell.  Like the topic for today about leadership, my conception about leadership today has changed. I now know that everybody can be a leader not just me following and that l have one or two things (gift) in me as a leader that l would need to develop.

Through these workshops, l have learnt about the constitution, l know my rights, l know what and what l need as a contestant to be able to scale through. I know now who to vote. I can’t just see anybody now coming to give me wrapper for me to give the person my vote. No.  My conception has changed from that. I am now looking at somebody that would show me the way to buy the wrapper myself and not to give the wrapper or give me Maggi or salt. No.

I am a leader in my own little forum. I have about hundred women under me. l would take what l have learnt today down to my women at the community level so that they too would have the knowledge of what l have learnt from here”.

Also, Mrs. Chindu Isiaku from Sabon Gari LGA who is contesting for councillorship said, the workshop has exposed her to many things. According to her, she has gotten additional experience. As to why she is contesting, “because l want to touch the lives of women by building them to become good leaders of tomorrow. We women, we are ready for that, by the grace of God”.

END