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March 28, 2024

Rise above limitations – C &I Leasing urges women

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By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, C& I Leasing Plc., Mr Andrew Otike-Odibi, has advised women to rise above  challenges they face in the business landscape.

Otike-Odibi gave the advice at a webinar organised by the company to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day celebration in Lagos.

The managing director, who commended women in the company for brining passion to their jobs, said that women must rise to challenges in today’s dynamic business landscape.

“C & I women are fierce and bold, and they bring these to the table in all that they do, with so much passion.

“As the business landscape transforms rapidly, I charge all the women to continue to step up and take their place in leadership, even amid challenging times as we have seen recently,” he said.

Commenting,  a human development expert and leadership coach, Alero Onosode, remarked that there were misconceptions around the concept of gender equality.

According to Onosode,  while some people believe there are no obvious hindrances to women development, others feel there are certain roles or activities each  gender is better suited for.

She regretted that some people wrongly assumed that investing in women would not pay off, while some others thought that women were too emotional for leadership roles.

Onosode urged women to correct wrong narratives  by achieving full potential.

“Women must take a position to articulate and address misconceptions around gender equality because, sometimes, these come from a place of ignorance. We need to challenge the limitations, mindsets and biases including those that women carry.

“We need to have conversations around the values that we hold on to. We also need to challenge the cultural and societal expectations along with policies and systems,” she said.

Also at the webinar, Ibukun Omololu, a gender parity and women development enthusiast, said that gender inequality had been a barrier to socio-economic development for a long time.

Omololu said that increased women representation in leadership positions would yield better outcomes for organisations and societies.

“Women have unique leadership skills. We are focused, looking at issues from all angles.

“We get better outcomes in any project or business when there is equal representation and a combination of the unique leadership styles of men and women.

“We are clamouring for women to get to the top because they have contributions to make, and they should make those contributions in achieving business objectives,” she said.

Omololu called for women-centric policies in organisations. (NAN)

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