The Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, on Wednesday in Lagos said the bank has made good progress in addressing gender imbalance.
This is even as he said that the objective remains that in the very near future, the bank would have the first female chief executive officer.
Speaking in Lagos at the FirstBank Women Network International Women’s Day event with the theme, “Embrace Equity” Adeduntan said the bank currently has two executives that are females, and a number of ladies that are general managers, also at the deputy general manager level.
Adeduntan noted that he has been privileged and opportune to work with a good number of women in the bank.
He said, “I have been privileged to work with virtually everyone here, I see the brain, I see the resilience, I see the tenacity, I see the hunger to succeed, which for me is much more important. Many people have the brain, but if that hunger to succeed is missing, then they cannot fully utilise their brains.
“We are not yet where we would like to be but we are very clear in terms of the direction of travel, we are very clear in terms of the direction of travel, we are very clear in terms of what we are doing to ensure that we have more women go through the pipeline and get to the top.
“The single objective of the FirstBank Women Network is and remains, creating an enabling environment that allows our ladies to blossom, to thrive and be the best that they can be, such that you can contribute your quota to achieving our vision, which is to be African Bank of First choice.
“Clearly, without any iota of doubt, without your contribution, that vision will be unattainable. We are not yet where we will like to be, but we are very clear in terms of direction of travel, we are very clear in terms of what we are doing to ensure that we have more women go through the pipeline and get to the top.”
He, however, assured women that the leadership team of the bank is fully committed to supporting women to ensure they become the best.
According to him, the FirstBank Women Network which started in March 2019 was to create an enabling environment that allows women in the bank to blossom, thrive and be the best that they can be, in order to “contribute your quota to achieving our vision, which is to be African Bank of First choice.”
Also speaking at the event, a banker and an investor, Mr. Andrew Alli stressed the need for corporates to encourage girls and women to embrace opportunities in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
He said, opportunities in the STEM education are enormous and if properly tapped would enhance the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Alli said that the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector had recorded tremendous growth and presently contributes about 18 per cent to the GDP from two or three per cent recorded in the years past.
He said, “I think that this is the time to try and change that narrative around what happens in technology companies; though, a number of those companies are already starting to do this,” adding that there is the need for female executives to change the narrative and encourage more girls and women to participate actively in the sector.
Chairman, FirstBank Women Network, Mrs. Olaitan Martins urged women to take advantage of the numerous resources available for learning and growth.
She said, “There are about 27 per cent of tech related jobs and women are underrepresented in STEM, this gap can truly be bridged and it starts with us.
“We have the power to break this barrier and pave the way for the future generation of women in innovation and technology, we need to participate actively more and contribute new perspectives with our unique creativity and problem solving skills.
“We don’t need to be afraid, sometimes we think technology is too difficult. We should not be afraid to pursue our interest in innovation and technology and there are numerous resources available for our learning and growing.
“So, together we can bring down the gender barrier in technology and innovation and create a more diverse and inclusive world for us all, so I encourage you all to subscribe, take that bold step, develop interest and we will assist you,” she said.
Academic Director and Senior Fellow in the Operations, Information Systems and Marketing Division of Lagos Business School, Prof. Olayinka David-West also called on women to be change makers and social problem solvers.
“So when we talk about change makers, there are different types and I think we all fit into different categories of change makers?
“First of all, we have social architects, influencers, skill catalyzers; we could be inventors, putting financial resources into development, we could be inventors creating new things and also connectors,” she said.