| How we got to the top•Grace
Alele Williams, Margaret Adeleke and Kemi Nelson speak
By Yetunde Oladeinde
Monday, November 15 2005
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| •Mrs Kemi
Nelson |
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Recently, the Women’s Leadership Group (WLG) in collaboration
with the African Women Development Fund (AWDF) organized a
two- day workshop to celebrate women role models and connect
them with young women leaders for mentoring. Nkechi Eke Nwankwo,
the executive secretary of the WLG explains that that there
is a need to sharpen the leadership and media skills of potential
female leaders.
The event celebrated women achievers like Professor Grace
Alele Williams, former vice chancellor University of Benin,
Mrs. Margaret Adetutu Adeleke, former Managing Director Tate
Industries now MD, Peter Zion Nigeria Ltd. and Chief Mrs.
Kemi Nelson. These women tell you their stories and how they
rose to the top in academia, business and politics respectively.
Professor Alele Williams
Inspiration
In 1963, I returned to Nigeria with a Ph.D. and everybody
shouted. I went to the Western Region as education officer
and they said I was over qualified. I got a job in the university
and I had a male and female bosses. They wanted me to do research.
There was a joint consultative committee and they sent me
to Jos, Kaduna and Sokoto.
Then I was getting ready to be married and each time I stayed
in the hotel. I met a 50-year-old steward who comes into the
room expecting to see a man but sees this young woman. The
next day he asked where is the master. By the third day, he
takes a deep look his timidity and disgust is gone. Then he
asked, are you married? And I told him, I am about to.
Discrimination
My answer to the gender question is, pretend it is not there.
For the woman of my time there was tribe and gender. It is
still there. By 1954, I had two degrees. So, I just wanted
to do the diploma for nine months, marry the man and we would
live happily ever after. My mates were education officers
but I was a middle level officer. The next set went for their
diploma and they were rising. By the middle of the third year
I was angry, my mum said it was okay because I was earning
400 pounds. For me, it was not the money but the principle.
Then someone asked if I would like to work in America as a
graduate assistant. I meant that I would teach and take courses.
Then the late Simeon Adebo became the first Nigerian Head
of Service. Trembling, I went forward and he understood what
I wanted. He wrote that I should be asked to go on leave with
pay. They paid my passage to America and I was guided by my
school’s motto: “Work hard, play hard and keep
straight. So, I chose Vermont in the USA, what I did not bargain
for was the cold.
Career decisions
My sights were set on being a secondary school teacher. I
left because of frustration. Two incidents happened but I
would talk of one. I got to America when five little girls
were being guarded to go to school. There was segregation
because of colour. I had heard about it but I now started
seeing this consciously in the worst form. Segregation hit
me because I was in a rural setting.
Now, I was thrown into a different society where to be black
was a crime. Two months later, everything was turned upside
down. Russia was in outer space, America was going and attention
shifted to education and Mathematics. I worked 20 hours to
prepare for my teaching. It was in that atmosphere that I
was catapulted. They gave me some forms and I had the opportunity
to go to the University of Chicago, Columbia and Harvard.
Factors that helped me get to the top
I must reiterate the goodness of others to me. In my days,
our teachers spent so much time and energy on us. When I became
director of the Institute of Education, I introduced programmes
to benefit teachers. Today, it is what can I get from the
system. But you see you get a lot without asking for it. Integrity
is not built in a day.
UNIBEN
Everybody thinks UNIBEN is the greatest part of my life. Yes!
But sometimes, it is not. The institute was important for
me because it provided a plain ground for me to test my ideas.
We must continuously have in service education. In UNIBEN,
you clash with students who do not know what they are saying.
You clash with teachers who are selfish and then you clash
with the chancellor.
Home front
Coming back, I got married and as a young woman, where your
husband goes you go. Another very difficult portion of a career
woman is the relationship at home. Not everyone is lucky.
It helps if your outlook in life is similar. Four years of
marriage I was out. I had one child and that was it. My mother
called and said I had to go back. I marry at 31. She said,
have all your children and manage. It was not easy to accept.
Even the bed of roses have thorns. There would be difficulties
and its one of those things you have to cope with. As a woman,
you must bear the greater responsibility. If you do otherwise,
the world would not take kindly to it. Keep the façade
of happiness and do everything to see that the children are
doing well.
Margaret Adetutu Adeleke
I was about two years when my mother died and my
father remarried. Before leaving home for school at CMS girl’s
school, I had to grind pepper and get everything ready. My
father had a driver but I must wash his car. I used to weep
but later I thanked God because this gave me the foundation.
My childhood toughened me to be able to stand firmly among
men.
How I got the job
I schooled here for primary and secondary before moving to
the United Kingdom for courses as charter secretary and accounting.
Then I saw an advert and there was a vacancy in a company
called Tate and Lye in the UK. I applied, to my surprise there
were 30 of us. I was the only woman and the only coloured.
I am always a determined person and we had three series of
interviews. At the end I was offered the job. When I resumed,
I worked with the then secretary. In that department they
were all men. The first resistance was that men preferred
to go to their male colleague who was the leader. He used
to send them back to me. It took me two months to get what
I wanted.
I wanted really to come to Nigeria but one day I was called
to our boardroom. At first, I was a bit shaky. I asked myself
if I had done anything wrong. Then I had spent six months
in that department. I went in and saw that they were all men.
So, they said they had a small company in Nigeria and they
wanted me to go and work there. I said I had some papers to
write but they said I could leave after writing them.
My husband had returned to Nigeria before me. I wrote to find
out about the company in Nigeria. He wrote and said I should
accept the offer. When they called me back in two weeks I
accepted. A young man said that if I went back I would soon
go on maternity leave. But I told him that women were organised
and that you can combine both in such a way that none would
pull the other down.
Back to Nigeria
When I got to Nigeria, I saw that they were all men except
the receptionist. The most senior person was the finance director
and a GM who was white. I didn’t have any problem with
the white but my main boss was a terror. He said your place
is at home with your family. But I told him that we all have
our different purposes and that I was there for my purpose.
I made it a duty to find out everything from the grassroots.
Once your subordinates know that you are hardworking, honest
and humble they would respect you. My first month was torture
and my immediate boss was watching me. He would deliberately
pass his job to me. After the first month, he slipped and
was admitted. By the time, he came back, he said I see you
can cope but I still don’t believe in women.
Later, I saw application for Company Secretary but I did not
apply because I knew God was with me. So, the message came
that effective from today, Mrs. M. Adeleke would be the company
secretary. I looked at my boss, he did not answer me. For
two weeks if I greet him, he won’t answer. I made them
understand that I am a friend and that we could work together.
There was a time I got fed up and NTC needed a company secretary.
Again, I was the only woman and I came tops. Someone advised
that I should stay in a small company and grow with it. I
listened and two weeks later I became secretary. We must always
pray on our vision and get direction from God.
A few years later during Muritala’s regime, our company
was accused of siphoning money out. Soldiers came and arrested
all of us. After a lot of interview we were released. They
insisted that the then expatriate must leave and my financial
director became MD. By the grace of God we worked out together.
Later they sent someone from UK and asked me to work with
him. We went to UK to submit our report. My MD had to leave
and the new MD came from the North.
Family
In the UK, I was promised secretary but my boss said if you
have godfathers over there, there is none here. But I was
determined. I told my husband to give me one free year before
making more babies. We had a daughter then. So, during lunch
I would rush to the market to do my shopping.
At the home front, some friends and relations kept telling
my husband, your wife would grow above you. I still had to
cook my husband’s meals. I would cook a variety every
Saturday up to a point where I would just steam. There was
no difference whether I came back late or travelled. Whenever,
his friends came and I was serving them, my husband would
say, ‘you would pay dearly for MD serving you and we
would all laugh about it. We must always remember that the
man is the head of the family.
Life as MD
When I became MD, the economy of Nigeria had sunk. We were
depending on loans to move Nigeria forward. Then I believed
in God to move us forward. I would go with my financial manager
and go to a bank. Then they would say, but madam you do not
have an appointment but God opened a way and they all rallied
around us. For, the first time we made a profit of N10 million.
UK then believed that a woman could make it. There was no
woman on their board and one day I asked why this was so during
our meetings.
Later they put a woman there. I met the woman; a baroness
and she thanked me. I didn’t realize that they took
my comment seriously. I became an example and almost all the
subsidiaries of Tate and Lye started bringing women on board.
Interestingly, when I was first approached as MD, I rejected
it. There were five men with me but my chairman, Lima Ciroma
said, Tutu what is wrong with you, you have always been complaining
about women not given the opportunity. So, I used the opportunity
and God gave me the sixth sense.
It is one thing to get to the top and another to stay there.
Every time, there would be ways to pull you down. Even women
would pull you down not to talk of the men. Even now, I am
still working hard. If given the opportunity, there was one
mistake I made then. Before, I got to that level I would pray
but as my career moved on, my prayer life dwindled.
I should have asked Him, I have finished this task, what next.
When we were in debt it was difficult bringing down the number
of directors and staff but we just had to do it. In this country,
corruption had always been there. They would say so much for
you, so much for us. But I would say, I won’t give,
don’t give me. You also need a dose of constructive
rebellion to succeed.
Chief (Mrs.) Kemi Nelson
Early life
My late father was an accountant while my mum was a civil
servant. In 1962, I got enrolled in a primary school in Surulere.
My father was a polygamist and at this point my mother left
and remarried. I was about seven years and her new husband
was transferred. I ended up living with our landlord, Pa Soremekun.
Even though they did everything for me, I was not happy. After
eating, I would go to one corner and cry because I missed
my parents. I became determined that I must excel.
After primary school, I moved back to my father’s house.
After my school certificate examination I wanted to be a lawyer.
My father used to call me young lawyer. I had five credits
and two passes. I couldn’t get admission immediately
and my father enrolled me in an evening school. But I was
burdened with housework. I went to the market everyday because
my father would never eat soup prepared the previous day.
The frustration was so much. A friend advised that I could
go for nursing and that was how I derailed from my initial
goals. My father tried to stop me but I moved on. I was one
of the first that got admission to read Nursing in Wales.
I moved again from nursing to politics. I was motivated when
I went to see a council boss one-day. I went for a legitimate
thing but I was kept waiting for hours and they were throwing
banters.
Politics
So, I said to myself, I must be one of those who would influence
who sits on that seat. When IBB set up the two parties, I
went for NRC even though SDP was the dominant party. I thought
people should be voted for based on what they have and not
the party to prove a point. I was a lone ranger but fortunately
another lady got up in the party and she said she wanted to
be governor. We made a lot of noise and they called us names
like prostitutes. They defeated us in the primaries but we
made our mark.
I wanted to contest for the Senate and my husband had just
been posted to New Jersey. They said my husband should give
me a letter saying he is my husband. So, I had to do the letter
through email. They said all kinds of things but I made up
my mind that it was only my husband that I owed an explanation.
Usually, the strategy is to derail you.
The odds
I won my party primaries and contested for Lagos West Senatorial
election. The campaign we did was way ahead. When you are
a politician and you go for an election you must not be deterred.
My agents came crying but I consoled them. The ability to
rise and pick the pieces is what makes you a good politician.
I resolved in my mind not to give up especially when there
aren’t many women.
For me, my vision of installing chairmen in my area must not
die. I started travelling with the party. I made conscious
effort and went everywhere they went. It got to a point when
they wanted to conduct the presidential election and they
had to pick a woman. I was sent to Osun State as chairman.
When I was in UNCP, I tried that same seat again and everything
was sealed. Then all of a sudden they schemed me out. I was
reporting to the same people who were planning against me.
Then, they said would you like to be council chairman, I said
no. At that point, I agreed to run for House of Rep and it
was during the Abacha period. We found ourselves in a new
democracy and I went to the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
It wasn’t all bed of roses. Most of the time they want
those they would say, sit there or shut up.
Family
I have a husband that is my best friend. He has been my pillar
of support. Once you have your husband’s support, then
you have 50 percent success. We courted for eleven years.
It is like a brother and sister relationship. Our eldest child
is 24 years old and any quarrel we have stops in the bedroom.
We have mutual respect for one another.
Career
So, I became Commissioner for Establishment and Job Creation
for three years. I moved on and became Commissioner for Women
Affairs. I gave up a lot. And I insisted that it was the Senate
or nothing. It became roforofo fight. People from other parties
came to me but I jettisoned them. When the pressure became
so much, I asked my husband to buy me a ticket and I travelled
out for five weeks. That was the longest period I had been
away but I needed the break.
Way forward
Women contribute a lot to frustrating other women. For me,
we need to educate men and women; Working on men must start
from the homes. In addition, women must cast away the garb
of self-pity and all forms of discrimination must be seen
as a crime. There must be a trust fund for women in politics
because by 2007, we want more women in the legislature. This
is the time to identify women who can deliver.
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