By Josephine Obute
Adebola Williams, Chairman, AW Network and Co-founder, RED For Africa, has said that Nigerian girls should be told stories that would inspire them to greatness.
Williams said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the end of a movie watched by 80 school girls in Lekki, Lagos.
The girls were aged 13 and above.
- The girl-child promoter told NAN that the African movie titled “The Woman King”, by Dana Stevens, was shown to the school girls in commemoration of year 2022 International Day of the Girl-child.
“The idea is to tell stories that truly inspire girls to become what they should be; we try to tell girls that they can be what they want to be.
“We try to showcase powerful women who have excelled in various fields in life to inspire every young girl to know that there is nothing they cannot do or be.
“If you cannot think it, you cannot see it and you cannot be it, so we must begin to tell stories that make our girls know that there is no limit to achievement.
“There is certainly no limit to getting to the stage of Celine Johnson, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Queen Moremi, Queen Amina, several other great women on the continent,” he said.
According to Williams, Nigerian girls need to be told the stories that will inspire and encourage them so that they can practically get it right.
Williams said that with the current trends in the society, many young girls have lost track of positivity and need to be redirected.
“They need practical experiences to bring them back to reality,” he declared.
Williams cautioned parents, the society, culture and other sectors against limiting the productivity of the girls.
“If we limit the girl’s potentialities, that will bring imbalance in the society.
“We are using the media, the stories, to encourage these girls to open them up to their glory because they are like flowers, if not nurtured, they fade away.
“They are easily misled by what they see in the social media, they need directions, close mentorship,” he said.
On what was required of government, he said that leaders must ensure that the girls go to school and get adequate education on their feminist hygiene and toilet sanitation to protect themselves against infection.
“The government should encourage the girls to go to school and not just concentrate on educating the boys in some areas.
“Government should also collaborate with platforms like ours to ensure that the girls are encouraged to go into politics; there should be equality in government appointments.
“The government is the biggest mirror of inspiration; it must make sure that there is equality in political positions and responsibilities.
“They must ensure that elections are free and fair so that when women get into elective positions, they are not shortcanged because of their sex,” he told NAN.
The philanthropist added that there should be equality in appointments so that the female gender would have a place of responsibilities in the society.
“If the girls don’t see women in leadership positions, they can’t be inspired into taking up such roles.
“There must also be a quota specifically reserved for women in elective positions to ensure balance in our society,” he said.
In 2021, Williams wrote his second book, “African Power Girls”, to showcase powerful heroines who were legends.
Copies of the book were given to the girls in attendance.
Williams, a champion for Youth in Africa, co-founded “The Future Awards/Project” in 2005 which remains the biggest youth awards project with a training component that had empowered young people.
Williams is a recipient of the CNBC Young Business Leader of the Year award for West Africa and was named by Forbes as one of Africa’s best entrepreneurs under 30 in 2013.
(NAN)
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