Interview Thursday: Chatting with my Boss

My warm-hearted, good looking, resourceful, intelligent and wonderful boss had a chat with me.

I intend for this to be the beginning of my Thursday interview series. Expect more….

I have a very wonderful boss and I was so glad that she could honor this interview. Thank you Ore. You are the best.

Standtall: You have being blogging since 2005; can you share your "blogging" experience with us? How has the journey being till date?

Ore: It's been great, though the frequency and nature of my posts have changed over time. Initially, I post very frequently. The relative anonymity I enjoyed also gave me more freedom to write whatever I wanted. Now, I feel more constrained by the fact that many people know who I am and as a result am more careful about what I write. However, I love to write and am happy to have one more outlet for my writing.

Standtall: What advantage do you think a blog has over a website?

Ore: A blog is much easier to update than a website. I have both blogs and a website and find that I update the blog far more frequently than I do the website. The blog also enables people to give comments and feedback more easily.

Standtall: Do you think everybody should blog or own a blog?

Ore: No, I don't think a blog is for everyone. It's most interesting if you have something to say. Also, it's important that you have the time to write in your blog frequently. Bloggers also need to be willing to share their viewpoints with the world.

Standtall: As my boss, I have seen you as a warm, accepting, open-to-ideas, encouraging, purposeful and professional kind of individual. How did you build this personality?

Ore: LOL!!!! Well, thank you very much. I feel honoured to hear this about myself, as I think that I can be VERY impatient. I am, however, very interested in hearing what people think and learning from other people. Over the years, I have learnt to curb my impatience. This took a lot of practice though and I think I am still a work in progress. Similarly, with all the other traits you mentioned, I work on these everyday, though some come more naturally to me than others. It's important that I exhibit many of the traits that I like and admire in others.

Standtall: Is there any weakness or weak side of your personality like getting angry (I am yet to see that though), is there anything you wish to change or correct about you?

Ore: My impatience! I want things done yesterday. I feel that with sufficient discipline, one should be able to do anything as a result, I tend to demand a lot of myself (and of others).

Standtall: Should there be any rule a leader should follow or adapt to, to be a successful leader?

Ore: Yes, so many, but ultimately a ruler should be more concerned about doing things for the good of their followers, stakeholders or constituency than for themselves.

Standtall: What is your opinion about the current state of things regarding Obama Campaign (or is it Mobilization) Dinner held recently in Lagos under the auspices of Ndidi Okereke's group?

Ore: It seemed to me to be rather fuzzy about what she intended to achieve with the dinner; initially it appeared that the money was to go to the Obama campaign. Since US laws do not allow that, it appears now that the money is to go towards mobilization of Nigerian-Americans to vote for Obama. It seems so typical of Nigerians that we should be more concerned about things going on in other countries than problems that need tackling in our own backyard. That fundraising expertise could have been better put to use to address Nigerian issues.

Standtall: You have being working a lot with women and girls, I will like you to share with us your experience in empowering them through ICT?

Ore: It's been a good experience so far, but there's still so much to be done. First of all, many people do not acknowledge the importance of women and girls being more engaged with information and communication technologies. The fact that half the population is under-represented in the use, management and development of ICTs is cause for concern. We have been able to empower some women through our programs, but this is such a small drop in the bucket and highlights the need to work more strategically, e.g. through alliances with organisations or groups working in this area.

Standtall: Of what truth is the saying that women are their own problems?

Ore: People are people. I don't like to generalize. Some women are backbiting and catty; many are not.

Standtall: Do you see a better future for the female generation in Nigeria?

Ore: Yes, I do. While patriarchy reigns and I think will in Nigeria for many years to come, there is a growing awareness that women are entitled to the same opportunities as men - though sometimes is feels like this knowledge is more in 'theory' than in 'reality.' I know many people who feel that anyone in support of women's rights is flogging a dead horse, but the preponderance of gender roles that still exist in our society show that women are not as free as many would like to believe. This problem has existed from time; I am currently reading 'A Room of One's Own' by Virginia Woolf, in which she makes the argument that men need to think of women as weak in order to feel better about themselves (a generalization of course, as I'd like to think that this does not apply to all men). And honestly, I feel that in Nigeria for women to free themselves from gender-based discrimination, we need to emphasise men and women working together.

Standtall: On a personal note, I have noticed that you hold your smile a lot even when you are taking pictures. Does this come naturally for you or did you work on yourself?

Ore: No, that was something that I've worked on over the years. I tend to look very serious when I'm not smiling.

Standtall: Any final word before our chat comes to an end?
Ore: Thank you for the honour and for showcasing me on your blog.

Standtall: The pleasure is mine. I am grateful to you for sharing with blogville (blogsphere).

Ore: You are welcome

                                        
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The much awaited Summer Bloggers Reunion (SBR) comes up on the 13th of Sept, 2008 at Lekki Beach. Click here for details.

UPDATE:

Remember the story of a man with 86 wives and 170 children I shared on my blog? The update on it is that some Islamic Scholars in Nigera are now on his case. They asked him to pick 4 wives out of the 86 or risk going to jail!!! So, how many children is he allowed to pick out of the 170? I wonder. Read more here

Yes, it's Natural

My head has refused to function to its full capacity. I am supposed to be working on all the details of my organisation’s forthcoming Technology Camp for Secondary School girls but I think I need a break for a few minutes to get my head back in the right track.

Yeah, I was away from Lagos to Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife yesterday to attend the 1^st Ladies Technology Summit organised by Nigerian High-Tech Women (NHTW). It’s all about empowering university female students through ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development). 

My boss was asked to present a paper titled –“MDGs and ICTs: What’s got to do with Women”. Of course as usually done, she did justice to the paper by linking all the goals with what women can do to empower themselves and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Goal 3 out of the 8 goals is “Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women”. She talked about this goal like she did evry other goals. Wonderful, powerful paper; I made my contributions too and all the ladies at the summit got something to take home with them.

Here comes the Compere, he sure knows how to speak English and he attempted to use this in swaying the conversation. He pointed out (I wonder why he had to do this anyway since the discussion had not generated any argument or clarification) that “Equality is not Natural” that women should not bother themselves about equality but empowerment. And that they should learn not to fight or compete with the men blah blah. He said further that Womanism is preferred to Feminism as pointed out by his lecturer whom I know, whom I have read her book since I graduated from the same university. Who as I recalled did not say anything negative about feminism.

He referred to a book called “Women at point Zero” (I have not read this book, I will admit). That the woman in the story fought a lost battle or something and destroyed herself via what she was fighting for!!!

I thought it was necessary to put things in a better perspective since we were to form groups and see how those goals can be achieved. I knew that with what he has said, a lot of women might not want to join group 3 for goal 3. I briefly pointed out the fact that “Equality is natural” I refer to an International Preacher whose book I once came across (forgot his name now). Where he mentioned that God created us equally as he mentioned in Genesis that “I created them Male and Female and gave the dominion over the earth” (rephrased). That saying equality is not natural is like admitting that Mandela and the rest of the black race should have folded their arms and said “yes, we are not equal to the white hence the right to enslave us!!!” And that feminism principle is upholding equal opportunities between men and women amongst other issues. Fine, some people could have taken it to the extreme. I said I did not support fighting the men either but those that have fought the men for one reason or the other must have done so based on their past experiences. I mentioned too that empowerment will in the long run bring about equality. I concluded by saying “Equality is Natural”.

The gentleman collected my contact details for further discussion. He is more than welcome!!! I was happy to have spoken up though because a lot of women eventually joined “goal 3 group” and when I listened to their personal experiences on how some of them have being discriminated against career-wise and how a particular lady says her husband has fenced her in and that she is not happy that she is not maximizing her potentials. We are looking into how we can come up with programmes for both men and women to address a lot of issues.

YES, before I forget again. I am inviting all the bloggers on facebook to hurry and join my group on facebook. The group’s name is Gender Equity and Equality Network. I am sure the name says it all. And another group that I like is Women and Technology in Africa.

The bloggers that I am appreciating right now: Abbie, Charizard, Grahamn Kcracker , Lisa and Ore. Thank you folks. (Pls don’t ask me what I am thanking you for, you are appreciated ***WINK***).