Mrs Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, says for Nigeria to attain the desired success and development, the potentials of its women must be maximised.
Awosika said this on Saturday, at the third edition of “This Generation Conference” organised by Summit Bible Church, Abuja with the theme, “Taking Responsibility, Disrupting the Narrative”.
According to Awosika, where Nigeria is today, there is need for citizens to deploy their potentials and talent to realise the desired change.
“For us to build this nation, we need everyone to be counted worthy; That includes your wives, daughters, nieces and all the women who work with you.
“Every woman you see is meant to become a capital that will leverage as an asset for development and growth of the nation.
“Women should be seen as assets that increase the value of society.
“It is time to rise up for our nation. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for the nation,” she said.
Awosika urged Nigerians to be a value addition to the country and leverage the capital that was in them.
She said that every Nigerian had value to add to development of the country and there was no single citizen that was useless.
“The character of Nigeria is the character of its people; the achievement of Nigeria is the achievement of its people,” she said.
The chairman further said that to change the narrative of Nigeria, all citizens must be counted worthy irrespective of gender.
Earlier, Senior Pastor, Summit Bible Church, Abuja, Andy Osakwe said “no matter how bad the narrative is, there is a narrative that will disrupt it.”
He explained that a narrative was a prevailing report that gave an overview over a particular incidence, experience or culture.
“Narratives are very important because they paint the picture that becomes the backdrop for what is possible or impossible to achieve in a particular generation.
“There are only two kinds of narratives. One springs out of darkness and the other out of light.
“One is negative and one positive; one mediocre, one excellent. One is righteous and one wicked.
“The present narrative about the Nigerian state is negative and also counterproductive.
“Many young people are hopeless, that is why we are suffering mass immigration. There is braindrain.
“We can’t let this continue. We need to see the new Nigeria of our dreams.
“We are God’s last hope for this great nation. If we don’t do it our children will suffer and it will be our fault,” he said.
Osakwe further said that God was counting on the youths to change the Nigeria story.