Josephine Igbinovia and Bianca Iboma
12 August 2007
interview
Lagos — Mrs. Edith Olawunmi Olusola is a retired Chief Administrative Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Lagos, and also the current President of the Inner Wheel Club of Festac, Lagos.
In this chat with Vista Woman, she advises that parents shouldn't force their children into pursuing a particular career. Excerpts:
BORN in Kano over fifty years ago into the family of Mr. and Mrs. E. A Taiwo (both of blessed memory), I hail from Ogbomosho in Oyo State. My father worked with the Post & Telecommunications so, he travelled a lot, and I grew up in different places. Later, my parents thought that instead of me relocating with them frequently, I should reside with my maternal aunt in Ibadan. That was how I had both my primary and secondary school education in Ibadan.
When I left secondary school, my uncle who was a medical doctor at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital wanted me in his career, so he got me employed in his laboratory as a medical laboratory technologist in training. After sometime, I opted for secretarial studies because I discovered that I had no flair for science courses. So, I registered at the United Christian Secondary School Secretarial College for evening secretarial studies while I worked in the laboratory in the mornings.
On completion of my secretarial course, I was posted from the laboratory to the School of Nursing, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) where I worked with the principal as an administrative officer\administrative secretary.
I worked there until 1981 when I left for Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). I worked in various sections as a full fledged administrative officer. I worked in the Department of Administration and Exploitation and Explorative Department. At that time, the department was a sort of men-dominated section, but these days, we have women in various sections. I enjoyed working with the men because they were broad minded.
They were very understanding and sympathetic and we worked as a team. I was employed as a staff on Level 14. The highest grade was Level '1' and we were promoted every two years. Later, they changed it to three years, for graduates, and five years for non-graduates.
There was nothing like quota system. People were promoted on merit, and people were eager to work so as to attract promotions. After working in NNPC for some years, I proceeded to the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Badagry where I obtained a certificate in Public Administration (CPA) in Education.
Upon graduation, NNPC raised me to the rank of chief administrative officer. Later, I went to the University of Lagos where I bagged a B.Sc in Business Administration.
I also had several certificates in management training in and outside Nigeria. I was able to scale through working and caring for my home because my mother in-law was living with us. She stayed with us for several years.
I retired in December 2000 as a Chief Administrative Officer. I really enjoyed pursuing the career of my choice. The most exciting moment of my life was when on my 30th wedding anniversary, my children gave me and my husband a surprise party. I am in support of women going into politics because he who wears the shoe, knows where it pains. It's only a woman that understands the plight of women.
Women go through a lot of miseries in many spheres of life. We go through humiliation, battering, and most times, gender discrimination. Some families are terrible to the extent that when either their son or brother dies, they hold the wife responsible and she is forced to swear an oath. There are also fathers who abandon their families because they see that their wives earn enough to cater for the whole family. They become reluctant to work, and even if at all they do, they lavish the income on other women and young girls outside.
A woman cannot watch while her child starves! She wants them to become responsible in life, so she struggles to make them achieve their dreams and acquire good education at her expense. Most women don't have the courage to embezzle money the way most men in key positions do. I won't say we don't have women in some key positions of this nation, we have! The issue is that they rarely distinguish themselves to be recognized for good.
The government should address the issue of corruption. Even when we go to the Post Office to collect letters, the attendants would want tips. It just appears that this nation is too corrupt in all spheres. Another crucial issue is 'Examination malpractice.'
The guys who have nothing to offer in kind, give out money to gain marks, while the girls who have no money to offer, pay in kind. Unlike our own days, parents didn't have to know any lecturer or student before a child passed his/her examinations. They only help their child to acquire the form, then leave him/her to sit for the exam. But these days, unless your parents are connected to one or two persons in key positions, you will find it difficult getting admission into a good school.
Even in our religious bodies these days, corruption is in existence. Most people believe that women are second hand citizens. There was an incident where a man slapped a female in the House of Assembly, claiming that she was over-stepping her bounds and that women are supposed to be in the house and shouldn't be seen in the polity. Even in some families, female children are not recognized. Though a woman can head this nation at the federal level, I don't think the men (with all their ego) will be willing to support her.
The men are mostly afraid that the women will surpass them after becoming a key political figure in the society, because they know that some women are very decisive. Training the girl-child for a bright future starts from the home.
If from her formative years the mother inculcates in her, good morals, definitely, she would grow to be bright. If a child constantly comes home later than the school's appropriate closing time, as a mother, you should investigate or find time to inquire from her teacher. If a mother is alert, she would know what her daughter is doing behind her.
Monitor the kind of dress your daughter wears, the friends she keeps, and the places she goes to from her formative years. As a result of indecent dressing , and in a bid to fight it, some tertiary institutions have placed restrictions on dress pattern within the school vicinity. Most girls dress to attract and distract lecturers from doing their work properly. There are-thousands of ways through which one inculcates discipline into the girl-child.
People should think positively. Every woman should have an honest source of livelihood, so she doesn't become a liability at home. Parents shouldn't force their children to take after their career or pursue a particular career because such children may not fit in properly due to a lack of interest. We encounter unlimited success when we do what we love doing.
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