The current executives of the Queen Elizabeth II Hall, University of Ibadan aka “Rebrand Team” organized a webinar, held on Friday, 19th March, 2021 in commemoration of the International Women’s Day. The theme explored was “21st Century Woman: Conquering Societal Limitations and Barriers”.
The speakers were Prof Janice Olawoye, a former dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and a former Hall Warden of the hall; Prof Stella Odebode, former Head of Gender Mainstreaming UI and Dr Aiki Raji, the Hall Warden of the hall. Dr Aiki Raji was unavoidably absent and ably represented by one of the Assistant Hall Wardens in person of Dr Alero Adegbolagun.
The webinar, which took place on Zoom was moderated by the Hall Chairperson, Babatola Jesukemi. A welcome address was given by Dr Alero Adegbolagun. She introduced the theme and urged the ladies to “choose to challenge” limitations and barriers in accordance with the theme of the 2021 International Women’s Day. According to Dr Alero “You may need to work twice as hard as a woman, compared to your male counterparts but you can do anything”.
The first session of the webinar was taken by Prof Janice Olawoye, who spoke on the topic “Balancing Work and Family Life”. As a career woman and mother of four sons, Prof Janice offered tips that would help in having a successful career and wonderful home, some of which included: having a mentor, being organized with work, avoiding distractions and seeking God’s help. She particularly emphasized her points with this sentence: “Don’t sacrifice one for the other” i.e work and family. In the words of Prof Janice: “Never tell yourself- I’m just a woman”.
The second session was anchored by Prof Stella Odebode who spoke on the theme of the webinar. She stated the barriers faced by females- cultural, religious, political and economic barriers. She gave examples such as ladies not having the rights to own a land in some parts of the country and customs that limit females. She talked about stereotypes and labels that define females in the present day and highlighted them as causes of barriers. Nevertheless, she urged the ladies to be focused and determined to make them something of themselves so the world would have no choice but to recognize them. In Prof Stella’s words, “You must recognize the barrier and make up your mind to overcome that barrier”.
