EKWIM: It’s high time we nullified notion that women are lethargic: braze up, break bias. Ekiti HOS Babafemi charges women

By Yemi Olajutemu

Ado Ekiti

  • “If you must achieve greatness in your endeavours, you must first conquer yourself, have the right perception and stop looking down on yourself by asking for permission before you make impacts. It is high time we cancelled the notion that women are lethargic. I am the first female Head of service but I am not going to be the last. I went back to school to study law at the age of 40 not because I wanted to go to courts but to develop myself

The above excerpt were the words of the Ekiti State Head of Service Mrs ‘Peju Babafemi at the 2022 Public lecture organized by the Ekiti State Women in Management EKWIM in commemoration of this year’s international women’s day.

The lecture with the theme, ” Breaking the Bias: the role of Women in Management” was held at the Lady Jibowu Hall, Government Office Ado Ekiti having career women from various Ministries, Agencies and government Parastatal in attendance.

Mrs Babafemi who noted that women are instrument of social mobility and change explained that it was important for women most especially the career ones and those who are rising and climbing the ladder to the Management cadre to demonstrate capability in their various offices.


Babafemi emphasized the need for self development, networking, supporting and collaborating with one another as a panacea to changing the belief that women are weaker vessels. She said that women could be limited only if they succumbed to the societal bias.

She commended Governor Kayode Fayemi and his wife Erelu Bisi Fayemi for creating an enabling environment for women to thrive against what is obtainable in other states of the Federation.

She explained that the current administration had supported women in achieving their dreams and had not succumbed to the masculinity sentiments in power sharing and resources allocation, saying that it is only left for women in the state to maximize the opportunity.

In her words ” wherever God has placed you, make sure you are outstanding and not just occupying a space. You must give 100% dedication to your work. It saddens to believe the saying that women are the enemies of women”

The guest speaker Mrs Lola Tope-Daramola charged women to think critically outside the box and do the extraordinary but without losing their integrity. She noted that being a woman is not an excuse for failure, hence the need for women to take their rightful positions in order to sumount the various challenges facing them.

As she explained “to do the extraordinary means that you need mentorship, you must learn, unlearn and relearn. You must be a time manager, being able to make impacts within a short period of time. We as women must all know that power is not given, it is taken, the Bible even said that the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force. This does not mean that we want to override the men, but we must not appeal or rely on Feminine sympathy, we must be show capacity and capability”

In her address, the EKWIM Coordinator Mrs Oyeyemi Kayode-Ojo explained that the theme was carefully selected in a bid to erase the inferiority complex shown by some women in the society despite having the potentials to sumount their challenges.

The program also featured Health talk where a scholar of Medicine, Prof Tunde Olofinbiyi enlightened the women on how best to manage their health in their age of forties and fifties.

34 new members were inducted into the Ekiti State Women in Management where the Head of Service Lead the decoration ceremony.

Some of the participants including the Permanent Secretaries in the state ministries, Mrs Folakemi Olomojobi, Mrs Akindele among other lauded the initiative and vision of the First female Head of Service to bring together Women in the management cadre together for effective service delivery in the Civil service and for the benefit of the society as a whole.

There were Goodwill messages from the leaders of NLC women’s wing, NAWOJ, FIDA among other women’s organizations in the state.

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