First Bank Boss Makes Case for Girl-child

Funmi Ogundare

The Chairman, Board of Directors, First Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika has admonished girls to discover who they are rather than limiting their dreams and be the best they can be.

She urged them to seize the opportunity that comes their way, adding that with self-discovery, their ability to know what they are good at will chart a way for them.

Awosika, who gave the advice at a programme with the theme ‘Girls Giving Back’, organised by Old Girls of Methodist Girls (OGMG) 1978-1983 set to celebrate their 35 years of leaving Methodist Girls High School, Lagos, said, “do not limit yourselves, there are so many things you can achieve as a girl-child. You can be whatever you want to be, the choice is yours to make, but you have to build a block at a time and seize any opportunity that comes your way. You also have to discover yourself at this stage as self-discovery is very important. The ability to know what you are good at will lead your path while growing.”

She also admonished them to stay focussed, saying, “being a career woman doesn’t stop you from getting married or having children, you just have to stay focussed. I have been married for 26 years and counting and have not gotten to the peak of my career yet. Please do not allow anyone to limit your imagination, don’t worry about where you are now, worry about where you are going now, the OGMG 78/83 set organised this event for you to believe in yourselves and set example of what you want to be as girl.”

The President of the set, Mrs. Bukola Durojaiye said since life is a journey of discovery, the students need to discover who they are and stand on it knowing that they can succeed in life.

“Life is in seasons, you keep discovering more about yourself. Life is all about failures and successes and even if you fail, you need to get up and move on, there are a lot of things happening around, you don’t need be distracted.

The Chair Contact and Publicity Sub-committee, Mrs. Moyo Ajijedidun, said the topic delivered by the keynote speaker was timely as many youths today are influenced by social media, adding that the essence of the give back programme was to share with the girls the values and discipline they imbibed during their days in the school.

“For what we are today, we were formed by the values and disciplines that we imbibed in the college in our formative years. With the values, we have been able to go back and build businesses, homes and formed relationships that last for life. When we were here 35 years ago, we did not realise the platform that we stood on, we invited the speakers so that the girls can see and appreciate what they are enjoying today.”

On the efforts of the set to bring back the glory of the college, Ajijedidun said it has been engaging with the school authority frequently and has gained its support, adding that projects by the set are ongoing to ensure a conducive learning environment for the students.

“The school authority sees the ideas that we are bringing. The set can’t go into oblivion, we, need to be permanent. We did the signposting of the school and the library project and they were very impressed. We are currently putting up a state-of-the-art building that would be to the benefit of the students.”