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| Dr. (Mrs) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, wife of the Governor of Lagos State. It’s about that time of
the year again when women in Lagos State converge under the auspices of the
Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) for annual National
Women’s Conference. For the past 19 years,
COWLSO which is a community-based gender organisation established principally
to complement the effort of the Lagos State Government in bringing about
exponential development and growth at the grassroots, has been consistent in
hosting the conference each year. This year edition has
its unique features. One, it is the first outing of the new Chairman of COWLSO,
Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, who assumed the leadership of the Committee, following
the swearing-in of her husband, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the 15th Governor of
Lagos State. It is a common knowledge that Lagos is a major commercial hub not
just in Nigeria, but in Africa. The theme of the
conference: “Unlearn, Learn And Relearn: 21st Century Women’s T.H.E.M.E.S
Perspectives/Approach”, was said to have been chosen after several
brainstorming sessions on how to ensure that women in Lagos and indeed in the
country key into the emerging opportunities being provided by the present
administration in the State. According to plans, the
conference is projected to feature 3,000 participants, and as such one can come
to terms with the fact that any programme designed to impact such huge number
of participants, will eventually make positive impacts across the nooks and
crannies of the State. Speaking at the
pre-conference press briefing at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Dr.
Sanwo-Olu said outstanding professionals had been specifically lined up to
discuss the main topic and sub-themes of the conference, which is scheduled to
hold between October 22 and 24, 2019 at the Eko Hotels Convention Centre,
Victoria Island. She said: “As it is the
tradition of the Conference to strategically empower women to contribute
positively to the development of the State and Nigeria at large, this year’s
theme was carefully selected in line with the vision and aspiration of the
present administration in Lagos State to bring about greater Lagos of our
dreams. “We have lined up very
eminent Nigerians and outstanding professionals to help our women come to terms
with how best they can key into the emerging opportunities being provided by
the government of the day in Lagos State.” Justifying the theme,
the First Lady said several brainstorming sessions came to play before the
members eventually settled for the theme. She added: “A lot of
brainstorming had gone among the COWLSO, especially NWC members and some of the
things we did considered when we were trying to agree on the topics was to have
a feeler and do a survey of what is happening in our system. We sent out
questionnaires and asked questions orally and we found out that there was a
knowledge gap; there’s the need for massive reorientation in our State, and in
the nation as a whole. “The theme of the event
is to trying to re-orientate our people that we have learnt some things before
that we need to unlearn those things and learn the right way of doing things. A
simple example is, a patient goes to a hospital and while she’s waiting at the
reception watching television and eating a snack, she litters the floor with
paper of the snack. Someone comes and ask Madam why are you throwing this on
the floor, and she responded I thought there is a cleaner being paid to clean
the floor and so if I don’t throw it on the floor, how would she get paid? You
can see that she has learnt something before she needs to unlearn. “The same thing applies
to traffic. A lot of people are impatient and once there is traffic, they start
driving on lanes dedicated to BRT buses and then if every road user decides to
pass the BRT corridor, there will be congestion and nobody will go anywhere.
That is what some people have learnt and so there is a need to unlearn those
things and everyone of us has to be the ambassadors so that we can learn good
things, and it is a total overhauling of our values. “So, I think that topic
is apt when COWLSO decided to take that topic to unlearn some things that have
been learnt; learn new things and keep on relearning,” she said. While emphasising that
learning is a continuous process, the First Lady said: “You see, a lot of
people have entered the plane and no matter the class you are – first class,
middle class, economy class, each time you enter the plane, they will tell you
to please put on your seat belt; they will tell you the emergency exit, among
other things. They will not say because you have entered the plane five times
you don’t need the information and so it shows that learning is continuous even
if you know it.” Giving further details,
Dr. Sanwo-Olu said the First Lady of Nigeria, Dr. Aisha Buhari would declare
the Conference Open, alongside Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State,
while his counterpart from Nasarawa State, Governor Abdullahi Sule would serve
as Special Guest of Honour at the closing ceremony. She said aside the main
theme, other sub-themes include: “The 21st Century Woman – Build Not Born To
Influence The Society; Entertainment And Tourism: Prism Of Possibilities –
Tourism and Entertainment; The Total Woman; Entrepreneurship: Making Money And
More Money – Agric Entrepreneurship, Financing and General Trading; Mould A
Child And Build A Greater Generation; Healthy Woman – A Healthier Nation:
Maternal & Child Mortality; Development And A Healthy City – Creating A
Balance – Waste To Wealth, and Obey Traffic Laws,” among others. With the array of interesting topics lined up for the 2019 conference, one can only commend COWLSO and look forward to interesting times ahead as participants positively put the experience to practice to engender a better society for all, particularly in Lagos State and in the nation at large. v Nwonah is the Head of Public Affairs, Office of the First Lady of Lagos State. |
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