As Nigerians commemorate Mother’s Day, the former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika, has described women as the greatest asset, hence the need to utilize them is imperative for nation-building.
Awosika, who is the first woman to be appointed Chairman of the Bank, stated this on Sunday at the Woman-to-Woman Conference organized by the House on the Rock, Citadel and Towers to commemorate this year’s Mother’s Day celebration.
She noted that nations that invest as little as 20 per cent of their women will outperform nations that undermine women and invest only in men.
The motivational speaker further stated that even in churches, women command a larger population, as she harped on the need to harness them for societal gains.
“It is women’s conference, that to me is a key mandate sector, so I always want to be where the Lord wants me to be in line with the message of the assignment for the season.
“For me, helping every woman, young or old, to find her way in order to be a maximum asset for nation building and building the house of God is key. There are more women in the church than the men, it means the strategic asset of the church across the nation is the women.
“Even nations, the strategic assets are women and the young people because your investment in the young person, if you build right, you will derive more value because expectedly, they have longer years to give value back to you, so your investment will return to you.
“So, getting young people’s mindset right early enough saves them a lot of trouble but also helps the nation, the community and the church to have them perform maximally for a much longer period.
“But getting the women right means that we are maximizing the largest portion of the population of the church. It is not a gender thing, if you look at it from a business, what do you do with your largest asset?”, Awosika noted.
Furthermore, she maintained that “If nations are smart, if you have a 50-50 gender population and your 50 per cent is undermined, you are already disadvantaged, it doesn’t matter how hard the core 50 per cent you are investing in works because if another nation only takes 20 percent of that other population and add to their core male 50 per cent, they will outperform you.
“So, it is a strategic decision for nations, churches, and communities to invest in maximizing the talent that women have.”
Uche Aigbe, Lead Pastor, House on the Rock, Abuja while speaking with Journalists, said because God created women, that means they have a purpose to fulfil on earth and, hence should be supported.
“I believe that God created man and woman and women have a very important role to play in life. God in his infinite wisdom thought it wise to create a woman, it means that women are very important and they have a very vital role to play, otherwise, there would not have been any need for women.
“For the women out there, continue to do what God has created you to be and fulfil God’s purpose and mandate because you have a very important role to play in the world. Without you, women, life would never be the same”, Pastor Uche Aigbe.
Also, Pastor Mrs Chichi Aigbe highlighted that House on the Rock has over the years engaged in community services, by providing food and basic needs to the communities around the church
She also noted that workers in the church have been empowered through their empowerment programs. Some she said received financial support to stabilize their business while some received materials and equipment to strengthen their businesses.
“House on the Rock is a giving church, every time we are thinking of how much we will give our people, so we have lots of initiative, sometimes we are feeding people, after service, we go out and give food to the communities around here, we give cloth and money.
“So, we are constantly thinking of how else to engage the communities around us. Among the church workers, we give a lot of money all the time, we give people support for small businesses”, she added.
In this year’s Mother’s Day Celebration, the church empowered six members with materials, equipment and financial assistance to support their businesses.
