.Organises debate to mark IWD

By Adesina Wahab

The Managing Director of Ardova Plc, Mr Moshood Olajide, has emphasised the importance of soft skills for girls, saying they need them to excel as the leaders of tomorrow.

He stated this in Ikeja, Lagos during the Girls Debate organised by the company to mark this year’s International Women’s Day. The debate involved girls drawn from some public secondary schools Lagos State.

“What concern us most about educating the girl child are access and soft skills. I think the leaders of tomorrow would need more soft skills and public schools are at a disadvantaged position in that aspect when compared with private schools. We want to provide opportunities for students in public schools to gain these soft skills such as confidence and networking among others. They are very important,” he said.

Speaking on the choice of the participating schools, he added, “I think the critical factor is that they have to be public schools, they have to be girls and the selection was largely done randomly. We just picked schools across Lagos State. If we are doing it next year, it will be another round of schools. We did it in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and it may be expanded next time depending on how this one goes. The schools are not necessarily in the same education district. I call on other corporate bodies to join in putting together programmes like this.”

Speaking in the same vein, the Deputy Managing Director, Mrs Abiola Babatunde-Ojo, opined that the programme was in line with the theme of this year’s IWD which was “Give her a voice today, gain a leader tomorrow.”

“The programme is in tandem with the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day. We want to inspire the girls to have a future they would look forward to. We want to bridge the opportunity gap and build confidence in the girls and have a strong community that will lead to strong institutions. It is going to be sustainable and we are exciting the girls, not just doing CSR,” she stated.

In the course of the programme, an official of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc took the students on financial literacy and how to prepare for the future.

The topic of the debate was “Providing girls with leadership opportunities is more impactful than providing financial support alone.”

Meanwhile, Oriwu Senior Model College, Ikorodu, Lagos emerged winners of the competition. The school was represented by the duo of Rhoda Aluko and Elizabeth Agbede.

They went home with N250,000 cash prize and a desktop computer.

Oregun Senior High School, represented by Akinade Oluwaferanmi and Ayeni Omolara came second and were given N200,000 and a sound system, while Ayedere Ajibola Senior High School, Ketu, represented by Taheerah Nurudeen and Inioluwa Oyinloye came third and won N150,000 and a sound system.

Ikeja Senior High School represented by Onuoha Chiamaka and Maryam Gbadamosi came fourth and won N100,000 and a sound system, while Eva Adelaja Girls Senior Secondary School, Bariga was fifth. Enioluwasaanu Ajileye and Rachel Hazmat represented the school. They won N50,000.
Each of the winners also got personal cash prizes and given the opportunity of a day visit to the corporate head office of Ardova Plc.