Mrs. Olatokunbo Adenike Fagbemi became the first female Group Managing Director of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (Nacho Aviance) last year. The soft spoken woman is a member of Airport Council International (ACI), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Certified International Airport Professional (IAP).
She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from IESE (Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa), University of Nevara, Spain. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Ibadan. Fagbemi was an Executive Director in Spring Fountain Infrastructure Limited and the Managing Director of the African Aircraft Leasing Company (AALC). She has had the privilege of working in various areas of airport management before her appointment. She spoke to EFFECTS recently at the international women’s day event in Lagos, advocating that women should be given the right place to prove their worth in the nation.
How should women contribute their quota in the home and development of the nation?
I think that the development of any nation actually starts from the home, because many people say the society is as good as the home. In developing an economy, women have a role, and they have enough skills. Taking it from the Bible, we have virtuous women in Proverbs 41. We have several women like Deborah and in Nigeria, we have great women like Madam Tinubu and we have heard stories of great women like Mrs. Ransome Kuti and others. All these people are women that have made their marks and also have families.
We don’t say it is easy, but we have to balance it. Before now, women are successful businesswomen. They have shops where they trade, they may not be managers but they are CEOs in their own rights and they still take care of their children.
However, we are looking at balance for better, and we are looking at how the gender balance can be brought together in all areas, especially in the boardroom, knowing what’s on ground in the economy.
What we are saying is that women should be given a chance to prove themselves. We believe that women have what it takes to be in the boardroom, they have what it takes to excel in their career and that will not take away from them being a mother, wife or sister and or any other social role that life has forced on them. We are not saying that is easy because life on its own is not easy and we are not saying that life is not difficult but difficulty is not the same as impossiblity.
Career women brought up a lot of us. My mother was a teacher, she was a career teacher, so that is a career. No matter what you say, teaching is a career. Many of us, our mothers were either trading, and even if they were housewives as a home maker or home manager which is 95% job, and they are doing that and taking care of the children.
I think it is just a perception of most people that when a woman rose on a career ladder, she won’t be able to take care of her children. Once you employ the principle of work life balance, then she should be able to do it, and many people that we look up to who are MDs of banks that are women have done exceptionally well, and they have children and they are able to manage their homes. What makes a home break is not because the woman is working in those places. When you have issues in marriages or challenges with children, does not mean it happened because the woman went to work. There are other issues that cause strife and tension in a marriage; work may just be one, there are other things.
For anyone to succeed, you need the combination of everybody working together to make it work. As women, we need the support of our husbands, and the support of people in our families, just as our husbands need our support in climbing up the ladder. So, what is sauce for the goose is good for the gander, and that is what I believe. I think if women are given the chance, we will excel. I don’t just want you to give position to a woman because she is a woman, but because she deserves it.
And what happened in many places is that women work hard but when it is time for promotion it becomes she is a woman, and at times, when they want to recruit they remember she is a woman. Sometimes when it is time to recruit they say she is in her thirties, I think we should allow women to strive, in the business places. For us women, we should put ourselves in the right scale to excel. When we excel, people would give us the applaud we deserve.
Being the first female Managing Director in the history of Nacho Aviance, how has it been so far?
In life, whatever you become is from where you started. You cannot take away part of you and say that part should be taken from you. I started life as a pharmacist. I worked a bit as a pharmacist, and then I did an MBA. And for the last 25- 26 years, I have been in the aviation industry. I worked in different parts consulting and actually doing the work. I was managing banks and advising banks on investment, so, I have worked at the airport with airlines, consulting. I have helped ACI also to train across Africa. I think, all that enabled me to do this work. I have also done consulting and support for maritime industry, and that also has given me a wider scope of transportation as a whole. I have trained people on strategies to do this job. With all these experiences and knowledge, and qualifications I think they are helping me in the place that I am now.
All I know is what it means for the airlines to survive. Although I am no more working along that line but now providing service for the airlines. For SAHCOL and Nigeria Aviation, I worked for SAHCOL for two years, helping to organize and position the vision of the company, I have also done consulting for NACHO transformation in the early 80s, which became a great surprise.
All these experiences from the 1990’s to 2000 have shaped my career. I have done transformation work in the industry not because I am a woman but because life has allowed me to deliver what is needed. I believe that is what is required by NACHO. We have five years agenda and for a woman to do this is because God has given me the chance to do it, not that I have the experiences. We have missionaries as board of directors.
And we are building the right team. We have missionaries who want their children to come with us. The NACHO you see today would likely be transformed by the end of the year. By the end of the year, when you come back , NACHO would be a transformed place as a firm that delivers dividend to shareholders. NACHO is now well positioned and gradually, everybody is coming on board. NACHO will continue to have the position it had and desired.
Can you share some of the challenges you faced on the job?
At senior management level, we are three women and two men. We jointly take decisions. Gender doesn’t count here. Everyone is kitted with our booths whenever we visit the terminal. Talking about gender ,women pay more attention on hygiene, which is crucial. That’s why our office must be clean at all times. Women are more detailed when it comes to certain ways of doing things. The five of us solve problems together when things go wrong in the work place. When there is a problem, we all solve it together. You can do it is not a gender thing, what matters is how you can do it and do it well.
Have you ever suffered discrimination on the job due to your gender?
Not really. Sometimes, people don’t believe that the Managing Director is a woman. When I go for meetings you noticed that they are lost at a point looking for somebody else in that position. When they realize I’m the one, they just admit it. In Nigeria, a lot of women have broken above the ceiling, and have risen above. So, all we need do as women is to support other women when the challenges arise.
As a female boss, how is it working with men?
It takes the grace of God. Just mark out your time and make sure you stick to the time. But it could be challenging, I must not lie to you. Secondly, you must have the support of your husband. If your husband understands you, it is the best. A man’s success is because he has an understanding wife, and I thank God I have an understanding husband and everybody in the family is supportive. Husband and wife must support each other, and when this happens it brings about unity into the relationship.
The Bible says, we must respect each other as a couple. It is not always easy because of the challenges of life. No matter how successful you are career wise, don’t forget your home. Maybe at night, over the weekend you should prepare things for the house so that the home will be more comfortable when you are not there.
What’s your advice to government on giving the right quota to women?
They should give women more chance, because more women are coming into government and we have had women in decision making among the men. Women should be given more roles to play in governance , because they pay more attention to little details.
How do you relax?
I enjoy reading, travelling, singing and aerobics.