Lagos – Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has lamented societal discrimination against women, saying such barriers must be pulled down to realize the full potential in womanhood.
She spoke at the 11th Annual Leadership and Mentoring conference organized by Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR), a non-profit organization focused on empowering and developing professional women in diverse careers.
Sirleaf at the event centered on the theme: ‘Enriching lives by telling our own stories”, emphasized the importance of role modelling and mentorship by successful women leaders as a gift to the next generation in nation building.
She stated that, “We need to recognize that we are all equal in capacity and ability, whether male or female. When we have equity and equal opportunities, our economy will grow stronger; our society will progress, and our people will be inspired to work to achieve full potential”
Accepting the Distinguished WISCAR Award ex-president Sirleaf added, “There are still barriers against women that we need to pull down, we must allow the courage of our convictions, passion of our causes and our collective strengths as women to inspire us to be politically involved and to birth more female political leaders. Male and female need to join hands to cause a difference and create a better tomorrow for the next generation”.
The convener of the conference, Founder and Chairperson of WISCAR, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola in her address stated “this year’s theme fully echoes WISCAR’s exemplarity model; WISCAR has always prized the voices of confirmed successful women as catalysts for the growth and progress of up and coming mentees, treading in the footpaths of those who have gone before us.
“When they share their stories, they teach the community how to love, how to forgive, how to be fair and just, how to influence policies and how to strive to do better than today.”
Punch FM/TV online service reported recently that former president Sirleaf had received the 2018 Distinguished Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR) Award for excellence in leadership and good governance.
The WISCAR board conferred the award on her at the 2018 WISCAR Leadership and Mentoring Conference at the Muson Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, on November 25, 2018.
According to WISCAR’s Founder and Chairperson Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, the “Distinguished WISCAR Award is presented to distinguished female exemplars and role models who achieved success and significance by dint of hard and good works. The award is given in recognition of their exemplary works, inspiring leadership, mentorship and significant contribution to the development of women and the nation.”
In her keynote address, titled “Enriching Lives by Telling Our Own Stories,” former President Sirleaf chronicled her life path to leadership as one which was non-linear, but filled with struggle, challenges, determination and a strong will to achieve excellence.
The road was undulating and sometimes met with failed outcomes, she said, as it happened when she first ran for president in 1997. But she advised women to embrace failure, because it was “success upside down,” which can be turnaround with perseverance and determination. She said she went to jail on two occasions because of her advocacy for social justice and human rights. Youth and women, including market women, played catalytic roles throughout her labor for justice, the release continues.
On becoming president, she narrated that she was confronted with many encounters to rebuild nearly everything that was broken by civil strife and had to be fixed.
The former president said she had to mobilize the resources to expand the budget, rebuild the economy and infrastructure, provide rule of law, and revitalize basic services including health and education. She set up a trust to build 50 schools, with 500 trained teachers, for 5,000 girls. Many competent women were appointed to strategic positions, including justice, the police, foreign affairs commerce, and agriculture.
The pinnacle of her success was to turn around a war-torn nation into a peace conflict success story resulting into successful democratic elections that ushered in a new administration after her 12-year two tenures in office.
Sirleaf hopes that her life travails and successes as the first democratically elected female president in Africa will inspire Nigerian and African women to “find their voices,” in whatever careers they pursue including political leadership.
