By Brave Dickson.
An international non-governmental organization known as Hephzibah Global Initiative (HeGin) has organized “the excellent you conference” in Port Harcourt to unlock hidden potentials, especially in women.
The visioner of the initiative and a seasoned broadcaster, Pastor (Mrs) Bibi Asher Benson said the aim is to educate women on how to break limits and become great in life.
Her words: “The focus of the NGO is on education and awareness especially for the ladies. I discovered that a lot of young girls are ignorant. So whatever they see out there is what they believe in. They grow up without principles.
“So actually, we are looking at changing the narrative. I am looking at a society where there is a paradigm shift. We are not trying to dictate to anybody but to inspire the ladies to be great in life.”
Other discussants who took turns to speak on various topics such as: Breaking the myths, The excellent woman as well as The practical rights of women for their dignity, urged participants to be courageous and always aspire for greatness.
The Treasurer International Federation of Women Lawyers, Rivers State Branch, Barr (Mrs) Goma Kalio Ohochukwu insisted that God gave men and women equal opportunities to excel, urging women to stand up for their rights.
She said: “Women should practically stand up for their rights.
The society we are today, women are more to men in number but men are outshining them in everything including politics. Even in ministry, some women are not even allowed to climb the pulpit. In the beginning when God created the woman, yes He (God) created her from the rib of the man, but in 1st Corinthians chapter11 and verse 11 to12, the man is also from the womb of the woman.”
Barr Goma said before now, women were discriminated against by not being allowed to work and even when international conventions made it legal for women to be allowed to work, men were being paid higher than women but today but men and women are being paid equally, adding that the feat was achieved when women stood up for their rights.
“There are some places where they don’t share land to women. All these discriminations against women will not help our society.
“Even this 35 per cent affirmative action for women in politics is too small. We deserve 50-50 with the men. Women have a lot to contribute to the betterment of our society. Therefore, women should be allowed to be the president of this country and I assure you that they will govern better than the men, “Barr Goma said.
A lecturer with the Niger Delta University, Mrs Tari O. Fekoregha advised women to be prayerful as she described them as multipurpose task machines.
According to her: “Women are multipurpose task machines. They care for the children, the aged parents and virtually everything. So, to keep going, they have to be prayerful. I expect to see women start breaking higher grounds and inculcate peace at all times.”
The lecturer, therefore, advised women to see themselves as positive change agents in all their endeavours and refuse to allow anyone to look down on them, adding that without women, society is not complete.
On her part, a veteran journalist with the Rivers State Television, Mrs Ibifa-a Asawo urged women to imbibe the habit of reading so as to understand how to relate with their immediate environment.
Mrs Asawo said: “My message to the participants is to know how to break the myths that are causing setbacks. To break the myths is for you not to believe them because they are like mirages which are not real.
“For instance, some people believe that when you drop out of school for any reason that that is the end of life for you. But we are saying, that is not true. I told participants that to come out of myths is by believing in themselves.
“We should always take practical bold steps and believe in ourselves that we can be better than what we are today. And even for those of us that think we have succeeded, we can exceed that limit and still get better. Reading is very important because it gives us knowledge on how to relate well with our environment but in addition to that be skilful.”
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