No fewer than 500 women in five local governments in Lagos have been trained on Leadership role with the theme Empowering Women to lead with confidence, vision and Impact.
The leadership training under the Household Economic Strengthening and Resilience project was done simultaneously in Ikorodu, Surulere, Lagos Island, Somolu and Kosofe, organized by France Embassy Fund in partnership with an NGO Humanity Family Foundation for Peace and Development, HUFFPED.
Speaking on the objective of the leadership training at Majidun Awori in Ikorodu, Executive Director, HUFFPED, Mrs Adekemi Adeyeye, said it was to empower women to be financially independent and be employers of labour.
While urging women to prioritize their health and well-being through regular check-up, Mrs Adeyeye urged participants to make themselves available for leadership positions in their communities, religious organizations, political spheres to champion the course of positive change for a better society.
“We have trained and trained many women on participating in politics, to attain leadership role in their communities because if they don’t lend their voices, men will continue to dominate decisions making in all spheres but women are also as good as their men counterparts in policy making, women must stand up, get up, dress up and go out to fend for themselves and their children which is their investment for tomorrow” Adeyeye stated
On her part, the Guest Speaker, wife of the traditional ruler in Majidun Awori, Olori Susan Solomon, advised women to be focused, skillful, and financially prudent with habits of saving culture.
“Women should not see themselves as a weaker vessel and should not depend solely on men for survival, they need to acquire skills and join Village Savings Contribution to empower themselves and get soft loans to boost their businesses as many have done and are grateful for the opportunity,” she said
Some of the participants commended HUFFPED for the opportunity to be empowered on financial literacy and leadership roles with promised to utilize the knowledge gained to boost their small and medium scale businesses.
“Today, I have learned about savings that from the little profit we make we must save.”
“I learnt about taking care of my children that they are our tomorrow and we must care for them but it must not affect our businesses”
“We want to thank HUFFPED for giving us the opportunity for this leadership training and everything we have learned here will be used to grow our businesses”
The project Manager, Mr Damilola Kalejaiye, hinted that two hundred of the beneficiaries were adolescent girls trained on financial literacy to inspire and drive positive change in the society.
Reporting byYemisi Dada