This Day (Lagos)
2 November 2009
Lagos — As the eight annual conference of the Women in Management and Business (WINBIZ) begins today, preparations are on high gear to ensure that the meeting achieve its aims that woman in management and business redefine their rules so that they remain and grow in the businesses.
The sole aim is to increase the success rate of female entrepreneurs and the proportion of women in senior position in corporate organisations. Speaking at a press briefing to announce the 2009 edition billed for November 3 and 4 at the Expo Hall, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the Executive Secretary, WINBIZ, Ms. Ini Onuk, said the conference is a flagship event for the year.
"Every year WinBiz normally have an annual conference towards the end of the year and this is the eighth edition. It is actually a gathering of women where we come together to inspire ourselves as well as talk about emerging issues in the economy, business or management field."
The theme for this year's conference is "Change the Game and Make a Difference." We'll be talking about how to change the ways business is being done, putting in consideration the crisis in the financial sector.
"We are quite aware of how the economy has been and the financial crisis that we have had. So we are saying how else can we change the ways business is done and how else can we change the way managers run their organisation and how else can governance be changed so that even though we have gone through certain melt down, that there is still hope for businesses to rise and do well. We also want to talk about how women running business can do it better," Onuk said.
She further stressed that with the current global economic crisis and its attendant effect on businesses, corporate organisations and governments, the need to change how the game of business, management and governance is played cannot be overemphasised. She said therefore that this year's conference will seek to examine and articulate the need for women in management and business to redefine the rules for staying and growing in business.
WINBIZ will have Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State deliver the keynote address, while the first female and former Attorney General of Lagos State, Mrs. Hairat Ade Balogun will be the conference chairperson. Speakers at the conference will include Vice President, ExxonMobil, Ms. Sara Ortwein, Chief Executive Officer, Soko Chair Centre, Ms. Ibunku Awosika and Amma Ogan of Next Newspapers and many others.
To take part in the conference, Onuk said one can register on the WinBiz website by paying a particular fee and then "you would be welcomed to enjoy." The target audience, she said, include female entrepreneurs, business owners, undergraduates and anybody that is interested. The conference she was quick to say, is open to males too because it is not a famine gathering alone.
"We also believe that there is nothing wrong in being a woman because most people would assume there is something wrong in being a woman. So we are also welcoming males because it is a gathering of minds that want to come and discuss issues and business.
To women out there, she said, "You can be the best you want to be, just change the game and make a difference. I don't want to believe that there is really anything that is working against women from utilising their potentials than ourselves. Every human being and not just the women don't get to where you want to go because you don't want to go there. For any human being, you can attain any height you want to attain if you put yourself to it and use the resources that are available to you.
"And that is the idea behind the theme for this year - to change the game. Let's change the way we have always done things and the way we have always seen the way businesses should be done without compromising our ethics and prides as women but because we have so much potentials that has been given to us. Let us change the way it is being done - over the years, men have always called the shot of how businesses and management are run and we are calling for change. "Let us do it differently. So I think that women can always put to use whatever potentials it is that they have and make the best use of it. That is one of the things the WinBiz is out to do. We say that we are the catalysts, channels and avenues that elevate the pattern and influence of women," Onuk said.
WINBIZ is a Nigerian based non-governmental organisation, established in 2002 by 14 individuals who identified a serious issue concerning women in the workplace and in business with a vision to be the catalyst that elevates the profile of women in management and business.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
