The immediate past President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will deliver a keynote speech at the 2018 Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR) Annual Leadership and Mentoring Conference, November 24 at The MUSON Center, Lagos.
The conference will have in attendance high profiled women from the United Nations and Central Bank of Nigeria while featuring a wide range of speakers and panelists including international diplomats, corporate relations specialist, public administrators, managing directors, chief executive officers, governance consultants; corporate executives and business mentors.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Amina Oyagbola, founder and business mentor at WISCAR said the conference which is themed: “Enriching Lives by Telling Our Own Stories” is aimed at inspiring and empowering younger women in career to help unleash their potentials by navigating careers pathways and nurture dreams.
“This year, we have carefully selected a theme that builds on our core focus on mentorship. The mentor is a storyteller, one who draws on her own life experience as tools and signposts to provide guidance on what to do, what to avoid doing, and ways to do it successfully.
‘We have invited her to share her wealth of experience in governance, mentorship, empowerment and nation building. In many parts of West Africa, the “Griot” is an oral historian, a repository of oral traditions and communal achievements. Ellen Johnson’s role as Keynote Speaker is to be the “Griot” of our political advancement, she added
Oyagbola gave an insightful account of how Elen was able to become the first African female President after undergoing a difficult time in life. “She never even had a degree before getting married. It was later that she went to the university, built a career in accounting and subsequently became a politician,” Oyagbola said.
In addition, Bayo Oyagbola, director at WISCAR opined that there are a few Nigerian women leaders with powerful resume who have occupied political and leadership positions but the Liberian ex-president Elen is found as the best fit and the most qualified to tell Nigerian career women an inspiring story of transcending from nothing to something in the African climate.
He said Ellen was Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Global Icon, and one of only 5 Mo Ibrahim Prize Winners will deliver the keynote speech at Women in Successful Careers, WISCAR’s 2018 Annual Leadership and Mentoring.
He recalled the leadership of Ellen improved in every single category and sub-category of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. Since leaving office in 2017, “she has become a highly acclaimed motivator and advocate for peace and justice, and continues to be a force for meaningful change and progress in Africa,” Oyagbola said.
“During this pivotal moment in our nation’s history, and in keeping with this year’s theme, we seek to have our lives enriched by actively listening to her stories and wisdom. All Nigerians have a lot to learn from her as an African leader, a successful politician, and as a stateswoman,” he said.
WISCAR was established with the sole purpose of building capacity through leadership training, mentorship, and advocacy for the empowerment of women for nation-building. The NGO believes that educating, mentoring and empowering women in Nigeria is the catalyst required to match the rapid socio-economic growth witnessed by other nations across the world.
According to Oyagbola, WISCAR is a non-profit 12-month structured mentoring Programme focused on empowering and developing professional women in diverse careers in the formal & informal economy to contribute to nation-building in Nigeria.
In her remarks, Fabia Ogunmekan, WISCAR’s executive secretary said the conference is expected to spur change in women and for women and improve the level of participation and contribution of 50% of Nigeria’s population to the extent required for Nigeria to become a first world country.
“We expect the stories our mentees hear to enrich them enough for them to become changemakers for their families, their communities and the nation at large. The positive changes we sow will surely be reaped in a brighter, more peaceful and more progressive future for Nigeria and Africa at large,” Ogunmekan said.