NAME OF EVENT: Women Leadership and National Development Workshop.
DATE OF EVENT: 18th – 21st October 2021.
VENUE: Marriott Hotel – Kigali.
DELEGATES: 50 Women Delegates.
NUMBER OF STATES: 5
The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with Prime Unique Women Initiative (PUWI) organized the workshop which focused on Women Leadership and National Development.
PARTICIPATING STATES:
5 states took part in the programme with the following number of delegates:
LAGOS – 25
OGUN – 4
ENUGU – 9
KATSINA – 6
BAUCHI – 6
TOTAL – 50 Participants.
Prominent amongst the various delegates were respective first ladies and their representatives were, H. E Hajiya Hadiza Aminu Masari leading Katsina, H. E Bamidele Abiodun leading Ogun, H. E Hajiya Aisha Baba leading Bauchi, Hon Cecilia Bolaji Dada leading Lagos state and Prof Joy Ezeilo OON leading Enugu delegation.
The keynote speaker H. E Pauline Tallen OFR KSG Minister of Women Affairs Nigeria who opened the event virtually, and was ably represented by Mrs Funke Oladipo. She enumerated the series of developmental programmes the Ministry of Women Affairs is working on to further elevate Nigerian women and also recommended more programmes to build capacity of women.
Highlight of the opening ceremony was a welcome address by the Convener and President of PUWI Dr Folake Joy Yobah FIMC, CMC and an opening remark by the Nigerian High Commissioner to Rwanda H. E Aishatu Musa amidst good will messages from respective states.
Subsequently, 3 lecture sessions took place on the first day as follows:
Paper 1: From Darkness to Brightness (The Rwandan Journey).
BY MR DIEUDONNE NAGARIWUBUNTU.
Paper 2: Emotional Intelligence for Effective Leadership
BY MRS JAIN KAMLESH.
Paper 3: Leading through global Crisis (The Role Of Women In The Recovery Process)
BY MRS PAMELA MADUKIKWA.
All participants afterwards discussed in an interactive forum the various topics and craved for a need to emulate the Rwandan resilient commitment towards building nationhood rather than crave for war.
The following day witnessed a new dimension as Mrs. Funke Oladipo delivered a lecture on “Overview of Women Participation in Politics and Decision making in Nigeria”.
Also on the same day was a symposium on Emerging Investment Opportunities for National Development:
- Tips for Building Generational Wealth.
BY MOYOSORE KUKOYI.
- Export Production Villages (EPV) on Agriculture.
BY MR SUNDAY IYAPO.
On hand to give inspiration to the women were the Rwandan Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs (RCWE). They shared the various progress made by women and enjoined participants to network with the chamber for business synergy, collaborations and other allied matters.
Deliberations on moving Nigerian Women forward to meet global best practices in terms of branding, innovative etiquette and leadership capacity was seriously emphasized.
The delegates also visited the Rwandan Parliament and met with female parliamentarians to further extol the virtues of women leadership in Rwanda and the need to promote such in Nigeria through women participation in politics.
Also, as part of the workshop was a visit to Rwandan Genocide memorial and one of the many graves of victims of genocide. The grave contained bodies of over 250,000 victims. We had a tour of the genocide memorial. We saw the reality of how a nation experienced Genocide and weathered the storms to become a great nation.
The grand finale of the programme was the gala night/ presentation of certificates to all delegates.
The Honorable Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Prof. Jeannette Bayisenge was the special guest of the Gala night, she also presented certificates to all the participants that took part in the workshop. Awards were presented to the Minister of Gender & Family Promotion and Nigerian High Commissioner to Rwanda HE Aishatu Aliyu Musa for the outstanding support to the Nigerian women delegation. All were entertained by a powerful Rwandan dance Troops.
CONCLUSION
As part of the communique raised during the programme the following resolutions were drafted: –
- A need for rebranding our values and commitment towards National Development.
- Nigerians should seek peace as the only panacea that development can be upheld.
- More women inclusiveness in national policies and leadership positions.
- The Government should use women as peace ambassadors in ensuring unity of our nation.
- Frequent visits to Rwandan by more groups and delegates to learn from the Rwandan experience, study the effect and consequences of war and a need for peaceful resolution.
- Conflict Resolution and Mediation skills should be integrated into a standing policy for Nigerians to imbibe.
- That our values and orientation as Nigerians should be focused on Nation building rather than destroying our reputation. This can be achieved through branding process.
- All other states that couldn’t make the program should be encouraged to meet up with the next batch.
On a general note, they take income from the leadership and national development workshop held in Kigali – Rwanda tagged (The Rwandan Experience) shaped up the consciousness of participants to understand the process of war, violence and wanton destruction of lives and properties and its negative impacts on National Development.
All participants came to the conclusion that we Nigerians with a population of over 200 million people cannot afford Genocide, so therefore we all must do all within our powers and beyond to prevent and avoid Genocide.
Furthermore, it espoused the resilient spirit of a nation from darkness to light. The price of conflict resolution and mediation, forgiveness and fortitude to rebuild desolation to greatness.
The Rwandan experience is a real-life situation of turning ashes to beauty. The developmental strides of Rwanda are worthy of emulation worldwide. Our greatest asset as a nation lies on men and women that will not only uphold the unity of our nation but will preserve it for the sake of our future generations.
