… As SSANU Holds 1st Women Seminar
Some dignitaries at the occasion. Inset: SSANU Women Leader, Mrs. Bolanle Adebesin, giving her Welcome Address
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, has informed all members of staff of the University that the current administration is on a “mission to rebuild” .
Professor Oyewole made this known at the maiden edition of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), FUNAAB Branch, held at the Postgraduate School Hall of the University.
The Vice-Chancellor stated that FUNAAB could not continue to compare itself with local institutions, adding that the current administration would right the wrongs of the past, for the University to move forward.
He however, commended some women in the University who had made landmark achievements in raising the University’s bar of excellence, one of which was the University’s Pioneer Registrar and an awardee, Princess Adebisi Soboyejo, among others. The Vice-Chancellor lauded Princess Soboyejo for her discreetness in the course of discharging her duties as well as her immense contributions towards laying a solid foundation for the University.
Earlier in her Welcome Address, the Women Leader of the SSANU, Comrade Bolanle Adebesin declared that women are special, important and indispensable.
Alluding to James Howell’s quote that says “women were created for the comfort of men”, she noted that both men and women are partners in progress in the development of the society.
Comrade Adebesin was happy to be the Women Leader, while this important seminar was being held in the annals of the Union and the University.
The Union’s Chairman, Comrade Abdussobur Salaam, in his Goodwill Message reemphasised the women’s vital role in peace building and conflict resolution in the society.
He added that the occasion was memorable because “we are celebrating womanhood and motherhood”. Comrade Salaam, therefore, called on other Sister Unions in the University to emulate SSANU by organizing such events for their women members.
Buttressing the importance of women in the advancement of the society, the Registrar, Bells University of Technology, Ota and Chairman of the Occasion, Mrs. Oluwayemisi Gbadebo recalled the famous quote of the late British Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher that says, “If you want anything said, ask a man but, if you want anything done, ask a woman”. Mrs. Gbadebo disclosed that “I am a FUNAAB-made Registrar” because she did not receive any inferior training while in FUNAAB. The former University’s image maker paid glowing tributes to the Pioneer Registrar, Princess Soboyejo, whom she described as worthy of emulation.
The Guest Speaker and the Chief Judge of Ogun State, Honourable Justice Olatokunbo Olapade, stressed the important role of women in nation building, saying that every viable and progressive institution should evolve policies on equity and gender that will ensure that God-given potentials of women are adequately utilised for societal development.
Represented by Justice Tokunbo Majekodunmi, the Chief Judge said the success of Nigeria’s objective to be among the top 20 world economies by year 2020 rested, to a large extent, on the ability to harness the potentials of its womenfolk, noting that this should be able to propel them for sustainable development.
She solicited for enormous support and empowerment for the womenfolk, to enable them contribute their quota optimally, to ensure that Nigeria do not lag behind among comity of nations.
From Left: An awardee Alhaja Sunmonu and her husband, Alhaji Sunmonu, the Pioneer Registrar, another awardee, Princess Adebisi Soboyejo and the Former Coordinator, NHIS, Dr. (Mrs.) Sonola at the event. Inset: Chanting Solidarity Songs.