By Chukwuma Umeorah
Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Women network has stressed the need to leverage technology and innovation in the promotion of equality and bridging gender gap in the society.
The Chairperson of FMN Women’s Network Olasubomi Sofowora while delivering a keynote address at a virtual event specifically designed to empower women while advocating equity gave an overview of the network and its commitment to promoting women and their development around the world.
She said that “We are definitely in a good place as I am proud to be part of an organization that is genuinely pushing the advancement of gender equality and inclusion.”
The event featured an interactive session with participants on the need for the inclusion and active participation of more women in the technology industry and how digital innovation can be used to create more opportunities for women.
On her part, multi-sector specialist and executive coach, Ronke Onadeko emphasized the importance of gender diversity in the technology sector and highlighted the significant contributions that women have made to the field.
She noted that women had a great potential of adding value if given the right environment while seeking to correct the impression that the techology sector was an exclusive property of the male gender.
According to her, “Women tend to think that the whole technology package belongs to men. We should start thinking differently. We are too silent when it comes to innovation, creation, and creativity. If a man learns how to lace a shoe in ten minutes, the whole world would hear about it. Women have been doing a lot but they don’t have the time to make it breaking news. However, we need not be silent tech bulls.”
Corroborating her submission, the Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary of Oando, Ayotola Jagun also emphasized the need for society to stop making women live under the shadow of men even as she highlighted how the challenge of financing sometimes limit women in terms of pursuing their dreams.
The Chairman of FMN, John Coumantaros in his speech underlined the commitment of FMN to promote gender equality and ensure that women are treated properly. He emphasized FMN’s long history of supporting women before urging female audience members to not let their gender prevent them from achieving their goals.
In his words, “You must treat yourself with respect in order for those around you to respect you. Your gender should not be the reason to stop you from pursuing your dreams.”
The Head of Corporate Strategy and Economic Intelligence at FMN Gbolaro Olulade noted the availablilty of several digital technology tools that women can use to improve themselves and their career productivity. “There are many online platforms that anyone can learn from and get certificates from those platforms. There are also collaborative tools, AI is currently helping those whose work is along the lines of creativity. There are also wellness tools one can use for the promotion of physical and mental health,” he stated.