The current economic situation triggered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains and business activities across countries, including Nigeria. To combat this pandemic, general lockdown strategies have been implemented and this has resulted in a decline in economic activity, a dip in oil prices and a reduction in disposable income. The impact on the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population has been magnified with people who depend on daily wages to fend for their families, feeling the brunt of these restrictions.
It further stated: “The WIMBIZ COVID-19 Relief Project is an initiative borne out of the challenges associated with the pandemic and the need for a collective action to combat the spread of the virus. Initially, we considered three communities to distribute the relief packs to Ijeh in Obalende, Idiaraba, Surulere and Mushin. However, due to the scale of the adverse economic impact of the ongoing pandemic and in response to the overwhelming support and feedback from our donors, we increased our relief package distribution target to 10,000 relief packs.
“In addition, we diversified our geographic focus and extended our donation window to enable us expand our reach. Our relief packages have so far been distributed in these communities across the country: Ijeh, Shomolu, Orile, Aguda, Mushin, Ikorodu, Seriki Ado, Ikeja, LAWMA, Makoko, Oke-Iranla Ojo, Yaba, Onikan Addo, Langbasa, Garki, Gwarimpa, Tungan, Maje, Jikwoyi, Durumi, Bundu, Okrika, Diobu Waterside, Bonny, Akinyele, Iddo, Lagelu/Egbeda and Ona-Ara.
“We leveraged our diverse network of associates and received immense support from members of our Board of Trustees and Executive Council. There was also representation of our secretariat staff led by the Executive Director of WIMBIZ for this well-needed outreach initiative.”
“The WIMBIZ COVID-19 Project Relief Program distributed 11,919 relief packs, directly impacting over 71,514 Nigerians across 28 communities in four states within Nigeria, with donations from 503 cash donors and 18 in-kind donors. Sector demographics covered include healthcare workers, waste-management staff, widows, law enforcement households, internally displaced individuals and old people’s homes,” the organization further explained. Some images of the distribution of the relief packages are captured on this page.
GUARDIAN WOMAN
Chairperson of the Executive Council, Women in Management, Business and Public Service, Mrs. Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo, discusses the organisation’s recent humanitarian activities amid lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its challenges with MOBOLA SADIQ
What inspired your decision to help low-income households during the lockdown?
WIMBIZ was inspired by the humanitarian challenges associated with the pandemic and the restrictions on movement.
It quickly became apparent to WIMBIZ that Nigerian women from low-income households would be hardest hit by the impact of the lockdown and they would need support to comply with the government’s directive to stay at home in order to flatten the curve and stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
In line with CAP Plc’s CSR policy, we saw the need to impact the immediate community by assisting vulnerable women in this critical season. Seeing that WIMBIZ was already active in this regard, CAP Plc reached out and together we distributed relief packs to the identified communities. Similarly, we also received support from individuals and other corporate & institutional donors such as: Unilever, NB Plc, Procter & Gamble, Verod Foundation, Keystone Bank Plc, Pricewaterhousecoopers Alumni, Easyshop Easycook Services, Sages & Scholars Lighthouse Academy, Abuja; Gabby’s Bakery, Nyanya Abuja; Songhai Farms, Sword Sweets, Chicken Villa, Femme Africa, Sterling Bank Foundation, Kings College Old Boys Associations (Class of 77 – 82), Citi Forum, Mohini Limited, Saturday Night Fever, BFA Foundation and Cross Boundary to mention a few. In total, we received donations from 503 cash donors and 18 in-kind donors towards the WIMBIZ COVID-19 Relief Project.
How many people benefited from the initiative?
We distributed 11,919 relief packs, directly impacting over 71,514 Nigerians across 28 communities in four states. Sector demographics covered include vulnerable households, COVID-19 health workers, waste management staff, widows, law enforcement families, internally displaced individuals and an old people’s home.
It appears that your relief packages were only given to women, were women solely the focus of your intervention?
Yes, WIMBIZ is primarily focused on women.
You also gave out relief packages to support widows of soldiers who fought against Boko Haram and lost their lives in battle; from your interactions with them, what are their challenges?
Like most vulnerable women who have lost their life partners and found themselves suddenly taking on the responsibility of being breadwinners, these widows face many challenges. From our interaction during the distribution of the relief packs, the primary concerns were the impact of the lockdown and access to food for themselves and their families.
There were also secondary challenges such as lack of access to capital to start or grow small businesses, skill acquisition programmes and opportunities for self-actualisation.
What criteria did you use in selecting the beneficiaries?
We partnered with a number of local partners in each state such as local government officials, community development associations, non-governmental organisations, community chiefs, security agencies, community leaders and volunteers who worked with us to map out distribution areas and beneficiaries according to households and locations. Our targeted beneficiaries as communicated to them also included elderly women, widows, persons with disabilities and vulnerable women.
Since WIMBIZ is a non-governmental organisation, how did you raise the funds needed for the palliatives?
We reached out to our internal and external stakeholders inclusive of WIMBIZ Board of Trustees, Executive Council, associates, secretariat, sponsors, speakers, facilitators, media partners, online community and personal friends and relatives. The collective effort of all the individuals and companies resulted in the effective execution of this outreach and strengthened our impact on the field.
What impact do you think the palliatives had on the beneficiaries?
The palliatives provided a much-needed cushion to relieve the women and their households from hunger and hygiene needs during the lockdown.
Studies of the impact of COVID-19 suggest that women’s economic and productive lives will be affected disproportionately and differently from men. Across the nation, women earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, and are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. They have less access to social protections and their capacity to absorb economic shocks is significantly reduced. As women take on greater care demands at home, their jobs will also be disproportionately affected by cuts and lay-offs. In response to this, WIMBIZ has introduced a number of virtual programmes and provided access to resources to help build capacity and resilience.
As an organisation committed to the interest of women, what other plans do you have for women post-COVID-19?
We continue to focus on growing our network of professional women, delivering value-added programmes, creating differentiated benefits for our associates, advocating for increased female participation at all levels of our society and supporting our communities.
The palliatives were only given out in Lagos, Oyo, Abuja and Rivers communities, what informed the choice of the areas you chose for intervention?
Initially, three communities were considered in Lagos State as the epicentre of the pandemic. Due to the scale of the adverse economic impact of the ongoing pandemic and in response to the overwhelming support and feedback from our donors, we increased our target. In addition, we diversified our geographic focus and extended our donation window to enable us deepen our reach. In line with this, our board members, executive council members and associates resident in those locations outside Lagos (Abuja, Ibadan and Rivers State) took up the responsibility to plan and execute the provision of relief materials (non-perishable, personal care and hygiene items) to women of low-income households in communities around their respective locations.
Why didn’t you give out relief packages in the North, as it is said to be relatively poorer than other regions?
The project started during the lockdown and we were limited by mobility and available resources to spread our reach beyond Abuja into other areas of the North.
What are the objectives of WIMBIZ as an organisation?
The core of what WIMBIZ embodies includes inspiring women to attain leadership positions, advocating for gender parity, educating and empowering women to maximise their potential, creating platforms for mentoring, networking and building value -added business relationships, capacity building for sustainable livelihoods and supporting our communities.
In line with the last objective, we launched the WIMBIZ COVID-19 Relief Package Project on Monday, March 30, 2020 with a plan to provide 5, 000 relief packs (nonperishable food, personal care and hygiene items) to vulnerable low-income households in Lagos – the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
The core values of WIMBIZ are selflessness, professionalism, passion, integrity, respect and teamwork
What kind of support do you give to women to attain the greatest heights they could in management, business and public service?
To achieve our mission to inspire and empower women to attain leadership positions in business, management and public service, WIMBIZ has four key areas of work around economic and political empowerment.
One, advocacy. We are a strong voice for gender parity. Playing our role as the catalyst that elevates the profile and influence of women and their contribution to nation building. Two, capacity building. Our programmes and activities educate and empower women to achieve career/business and public-sector leadership.
Three, inspiration. We motivate and inspire women to achieve their career and business ambitions through our programmes, events, and initiatives. And four, mentoring. We have built a sustainable platform that enlightens and empowers women to achieve career and business leadership.
What have been the challenges of the organisation so far?
Like most other social organisations, we do have challenges that include receptivity to our advocacy initiatives, financial sustainability, funding, long-term measurement of impact, public perception, influencing organisational/national policies, donor fatigue and gender inequality, to mention a few.
So, how have you been handling these challenges?
Over the years, we have leveraged our diverse network of associates as well as support from members of our board of trustees and executive council to continue to contribute to growth and development interventions, ideas and initiatives. These team of women continue to use their expertise and resources for problem solving on an annual basis. In addition to this, we have strategy sessions and engage key stakeholders to help in addressing critical challenges as they arise.
It is often said that women have not been actively involved in politics like men, what do you think should be done to change the narrative?
To change the narrative, we need a level playing field where women are able to aspire to and hold elected offices. We need transparent nomination processes and policies that promote gender equality in elective and appointive offices. The introduction of gender friendly political party systems like the Zebra system practised in Namibia whereby if a minister is a woman then the deputy minister must be a man and vice versa, should be explored and adopted by the Nigerian government.
WIMBIZ also has ongoing initiatives driven by our WIMPOL Committee to increase female participation in politics. In 2019, we launched the #Runvotegetinvolved campaign aimed at encouraging women to engage more actively in nation building at its highest levels and to apply those skills of teamwork, decision-making, multi-tasking, negotiation, creative and strategic thinking we are known for towards running for and winning elective positions.
Before COVID-19, what corporate social responsibility activities were WIMBIZ involved in?
WIMBIZ has a campus outreach programme called Winning Without Compromise. It was created to motivate young people, particularly females in tertiary institutions to stay on track and build skills to enhance their entrepreneurial and professional prospects. Through the programme, beneficiaries are equipped with tools to deal with workplace challenges, achieve work-life balance and build successful careers. WIWIC seeks to equip undergraduates with tools and life skills for post-graduation success, inspire female undergraduates in building confidence and self-esteem for personal and professional development, build a close community of self-aware and driven female undergraduates determined to make social impact either through business or more structured career and enable young women to know the importance of being goal oriented and mentorship.
We have held the WIWIC seminar for 14 years and have impacted 12,441 undergraduates in over 10 universities.
In addition, to mark our 15th anniversary, we launched the Big Sister Programme. The BSP is WIMBIZ‘s mentoring programme for girls aged 14-18 years. It aims to equip and empower young girls with life skills to boost their confidence and build their leadership capacity. Beneficiaries of the BSP are mentored for a day by accomplished female professionals in various fields. Through the Big Sister Programme, we have impacted 3, 355 young girls in three years.
PUNCH NEWSPAPER.
Dear Woman in Management, Business and Public Service,
We hope that during these unprecedented times, you and your loved ones are safe and are taking the necessary precautions to remain so.
The impact of COVID-19 is one that has become ever more apparent in the past months and weeks, and has now been declared a global pandemic. Undoubtedly, this will have profound effects on your organisations and businesses.
In order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the World Health Organization has provided a set of protocols to be followed, including social distancing, self-isolation and thorough hygiene practices. In line with the guidelines and recommendations, the WIMBIZ Secretariat will be closed from March 24th, 2020. However, this will not stop our operations as all members of the team will be working remotely and will be available via telephone or email, so that WIMBIZ can continue to empower, inspire and celebrate women, despite the global crisis.
While the months ahead will inevitably result in a shift of day to day activities and routines, WIMBIZ uses this time to reassure you that as an organisation, we are fully committed to executing and delivering quality programmes and services, in accordance with public health and safety guidelines. Please follow us on all our social media platforms for updates on our activities.
Our first priority is the health, safety, and well being of all our stakeholders, of which you are a major part. As individuals, we can help to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 by starting with ourselves, and taking the necessary measures to keep our communities safe.
We are infinitely grateful for your continued support and contribution to nation building. As we weather this storm together, we encourage you to remain Positive, be Kind and stay Safe.
Best Regards,
Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo
Chairperson, WIMBIZ Executive Council
The Coronavirus (COVID -19) is currently affecting 162 countries and territories around the world with an estimated number of 96,234 active cases. As at March 18, 2020, the Federal Minister of Health, Dr. E. Osagie Ehanire MD, FWACS confirmed five fresh cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Protection, there is currently no vaccine to prevent the Coronavirus disease; the best way to minimize the possibility of getting infected is to avoid being exposed to the virus.
In light of these recent findings, we deem it necessary to write to all Associates of WIMBIZ and WIMBIZ Enthusiasts to ensure that they are well informed about precautionary measures that can be adopted to avoid contacting this global pandemic.
Our hope is that regulatory measures are in place to combat and totally eradicate the virus. Until then, please, stay safe.
Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) condemns the inhumane acts of violence in Kogi State during the recent elections and calls for urgent legal action against the perpetrators.
Over the last few days, the turn of events in Kogi State before, during and after the just concluded governorship elections have been alarming, to say the least. This recent development, the burning to death of a political woman leader of Wada Aro Campaign Council, Ochadamu Ward in Ofu Local Government Area, Hon Mrs Acheju Abuh on Monday, November 18th, is shocking and gut-wrenching. To say we condemn these barbaric acts does not perfectly capture our disgust.
We urgently call on the Nigerian Police and all relevant security agencies to curb this anarchy and protect human rights and lives.
Whilst we specially sympathize with everyone who has suffered any form of loss as a result of the violence, our hearts reach out to the family of late Mrs Acheju Abuh. We also call on the Federal Government and National Assembly to ensure that the perpetrators responsible for these violent acts do not escape justice.
The Executive Management, WIMBIZ
Sometime in May 2019, I met a young man at an event I had been invited to speak at.
The Moderator of the event had asked that we network for about 10 minutes. This young man walked up to me at the back and introduced himself. He told me the industry he was working in, described what he did in a summary, gave me his card and went back to his seat.
This young man stood out because he had emphasized what he did and that stuck with me as his field was something I was working on within The Smart Investment Club (a platform where we teach about Investment and practice what we learn by seizing credible Investment opportunities).
To cut the long story short, I called him a few weeks after and till date, we have transacted in mutually beneficial businesses with the monetary value running into tens of millions.
Often times, we read a lot about Emotional Intelligence, Financial Intelligence and more, but Connectional Intelligence; what you may call Networking Intelligence is relatively unknown. The proper art of Networking which is the enabler of successful social, financial and economic relationships has not been properly mastered by a lot of us.
Technology has changed things and networking with the aid of technology has taken new dimensions. It is possible to be in business transactions with people you have never met in person and have no inhibitions about dealing with them because you have gained confidence through your interactions with them. Given the same set of circumstances, some people fare better in closing out deals and prospects than many others because of their ability to “connect” well.
What is Connectional Intelligence (CI)?
According to Erica Dhawan, “it is the ability to create and drive greater value by effectively harnessing your networks and relationships”. She goes on to say that CI is the next, greatest trait or skill that leaders will use to bring change to their workplaces and the world.
Connectional Intelligence is the ability to combine resources, people, tools and technology in relationships with an end result of wealth or value creation. It is about sharing mutual value with the person you are connecting with.
Everyone meets a lot of people at different events and collects loads of cards (I have lost cards and sometimes shredded some when decluttering). Hardly would anyone remember you if you don’t leave a succinct, lasting impression on their mind. What value can you bring to the table for them?
Remember, everyone you meet is your potential business partner, enabler or collaborator.
When you meet with people and exchange contacts, you must have in mind three Ws
The “Who” you are
The “Why” you are talking with them
The “What” matters to you both.
The secret to doing this effectively is Mastering an Elevator Pitch which should contain no more than 5 sentences that summarizes what you do. In 5 mins, you should be able to “sell” yourself and engrave a lasting impression about you in the mind of the listener.
My pitch would go like this for example:
“My name is Sola Adesakin
I am a Multi-Passionate and Multi-Talented Finance Coach
I help people and businesses identify their financial capabilities and how to scale it up.
I help them Make, Manage and Multiply their money.
I have helped many individuals and businesses bounce back from stress to wealth”
Erica Dhawan goes on to mention the 5 Cs of connectional intelligence which are: curiosity, combination, community, courage, and combustion
My relationships and networking skills have taken a great shape ever since I got deliberate about getting more connectional intelligence. At this 2019 WIMBIZ Annual Conference and just anywhere you get to meet new people, be deliberate about how you network with the people and what you do with their contacts details.
I am grateful to Toyin Ademola who created this awareness about CI to me.
Sola Adesakin FCA FCCA CPA MBA, is Lead Coach/ Founder of Smart Stewards
For more information about the 2019 WIMBIZ Annual Conference, visit www.wimbizannualconference.com On Day 1 of the Conference, there will be a Networking Breakfast for professionals. This is open to ONLY delegates who register and pay an extra fee of N12,000. This Networking Breakfast offers you an opportunity to meet professionals from a variety of sectors in a structured and timed networking session.
To register for the WIMBIZ Annual Conference and Networking Breakfast click here
Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) wholeheartedly deplore and condemn the actions displayed in the online viral video showing Senator Elisha Abbo repeatedly verbally and physically assaulting a lady. The laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria do not support this untoward behavior and neither should it be tolerated from anyone, especially from people who occupy sensitive, national leadership positions representing our country in legislative capacities and therefore are held to higher standards of accountability.
We note and applaud the actions of the different media platforms, especially the Premium Times News which brought this incident of abuse of power to the notice of the public. Having received reports of police involvement to properly investigate this incident, we urge that the rule of law should be followed to the letter in the dispensing of justice in this matter.
We also encourage the Police Force and the relevant regulating committee within the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to treat matters like this and Issues like this with utmost sensitivity, precision and expediency in order to deter those who flagrantly flout the laws of our beloved nation, Nigeria.