Business News
IWD 2024: Women Should Be Celebrated Everyday – Polaris Bank MD
By Grace Alegba
Mr Omokayode Lawal, Managing Director, Polaris Bank, has said that the significant and diverse contributions of women to societies, economic development, and nation-building can not be over-emphasised.
Lawal, who spoke during a webinar marking the 2024 International Women’s Day on Tuesday, said that women deserve recognition not just on one day but every day for their immense impact.
According to him, the contributions of women are huge and numerous, therefore they deserve daily accolades.
Highlighting the bank’s commitment to providing a work environment that is inclusive and supportive of its female workforce, Lawal said that it was important to eliminate biases, prejudices, discrimination, and stereotypes for equitable growth.
“Here at Polaris Bank, I am very proud to say that we have a group of diverse talented women, who inspire us everyday with their hard work, their passion and their dedication,” he said.
He said the global theme of the IWD 2024, “Inspire Inclusion,” was apt, noting the need for collaboration among stakeholders, to achieve the goal of inclusivity.
“For me, inclusion is not just about diversity, inclusion is creating a culture where everyone feels valued, everyone feels respected, and you are empowered to bring out your authentic self in a way where there is no barrier to what you can achieve. That, for me, is what inclusion is all about.
“And at Polaris, we value our women, we recognise and respect what they do, and we are still doing everything possible to ensure we create a very conducive work environment for them.
“I also think it’s something all of us have to do, we just have to create that work environment where everybody just feels like he belongs to; welcomed, respected and appreciated,” he said.
The panelists explained how women could rise above prejudices, gain and maintain their self-esteem while not missing out on emotional, physical and mental wellness of themselves and their families.
They also explained how government and employers could create conducive workplace policies and environment that could help women remain productive in child-bearing and child raising moments.
Ms Solape Akinpelu, CEO and co-founder, HerVest, a fintech company, said achieving inclusivity should be collaborative effort of all segments of society to help women achieve their full potential.
She insisted that “women are not helpless” and were not at the bottom of the human pyramid, hence the need for government and workplace policies against the narrative.
Akinpelu, a business leader, author and gender-finance expert, also urged women to work against subconscious biases of the image society bestowed upon them.
She called for inclusive public infrastructure, citing the nation’s airports as examples of places where facilities did not capture peculiar needs of nursing mothers and their infants.
Dr Ifeyinwa Nwakwesi, lead consultant, Healthy Living Services Nigeria Ltd., gave health tips on how women could balance through family and professional lives while remaining strong mentality, physically and emotionally.
Nwakwesi said the roles of women were important in ensuring the health of an entire family, and they should shield themselves from all kinds of pressures.
The chief executive officer called for a review of the nation’s education curriculum, including teaching of a balanced health and mindset shift to remove gender biases against women.
The expert reeled out self-esteem measures and how women could become more resilient, saying, “Don’t mind people that are trying to bring you down, they are not important.”
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