Awesome, Awesome and Awesome. Three same words is what I can use to describe African Women In Leadership Organisation(AWLO)’s launch of its Global Youth Council on 24 October, 2016 at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

And if we are wondering what this organisation do and how they make a difference, wonder no more as I shall  guide you through it all.

It was the place to be as important personalities such as Hon. Elisha Attai, Chief (Dr.) Opral Mason Benson, Dr. Violet Arene (Founder of Voice of Eve TV Program) HRH Erelu Abiola Dosumu of Erelu of Egbaland, Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos, Mrs Remi Abere, Frank Edwards, Miss Tubosoye Charles Dokubo (Ms. Africa Ambassador United Nation 2015/2016) and a host of others graced the launch with their presence to witness the birth of a Global AWLO Youth Council. The keynote speaker was HRH Erelu Abiola Dosumu of Erelu of Egbaland, Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos and other speakers who imparted their wealth of knowledge were Mrs. Toun Okewale Sonaiya (MD Wfm), Mrs. Florence Olumodimu(Founder Life Developers Network) and Mr. Ekerete Olawoye Gam-Ikon. (Founder Third Party Media Company Limited).

But behind the glitz and glamour, there are 5 things we should all takeaway from the event.

1. AWLO: African Women In Leadership Organisation is founded by a man Hon. Elisha Attai, it is a non-profit organisation geared towards the empowerment of women and participation of women in leadership positions. It believes the next generation female leaders are the young girls and young women of today. It’s vision is to give Africa and the rest of the world groomed and extremely prepared women for excellent performance as potential leaders and teachers of leaders. It knows these women will be distinctive for beauty, brains, character, high performance and honour of God.

Finally, AWLO intends to pursue the establishment of a finishing school of leadership for women, it sees the need for such to polish and harness the qualities of women in Leadership positions. It’s goal is to have a Master’s degree program in partnership with a reputable University. One striking sentence in their anthem is ‘I am an African Woman Of Worth.’

2.‘Make The Best Of Who You Are’ : That is the exact words of HRH Erelu Abiola Dosumu of Erelu of Egbaland, Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos. If you are not taking anything away from the launch and Youth Mentorship summit, surely you must take this words with you.

It is very deep, profound and soul searching. Make the best of who you are be it a housekeeper, a maid, a driver, a mother, a trader, an entrepreneur, an MD, a wife or a professional.

HRH Erelu Abiola Dosumu did not just stop there at her keynote speech, she drove the point home in different areas of our lives. She said if you have gotten something wrong, it is needless to linger on it, just move on.

How many of us have had the courage to leave a failed business or a failed handicraft and search for something we are better at doing? Little wonder we all wallow in self pity and tell others that we are trying yet we see no progress in what we are doing. We sometimes cast the blame on spiritual beings rather than moving on. Change is the most difficult challenge we have. We hate change and we detest the unknown. But now is the time to leave our unsuccessful past and move ahead.

One amazing thing she said is that she is never tired of learning and if she ever finds the time, even at the age of 70 as she is now, she would go back to the University and study philosophy. For she loves philosophy. She acknowledged that businesses don’t  that work all the time and this is coming from a woman who has been in business all her life.

She reminded us to treat people with courtesy and be tolerant of people also we should pray God makes us patient in life.

As parting words that should sink in our heads, she said if you take things and you don’t know how to turn it around you will be finished. So life is not about taking.

3. It Is Time For Women To Rise Up: Dr. Violet Arene is also the global youth matron of AWLO Youth Council and she is very passionate about women especially the young women, the youth and the girl child. This initially led her to initiating the young women innovator’s project and she is still working hard at it. She once said that her dream is to see the establishment of a finishing leadership school for women. She believes in the empowerment of women and the fact that women can produce a Nigerian President.

Our takeaway here is women empowerment. Women should empower themselves. Women should equip themselves, women should do better with themselves. Women have the power to be great.

4. Constant Education For Our Women: The words of Mrs. Remi Abere, a woman who climbed  Mount Kilimanjaro  twice to raise awareness/funds for the Internally displaced People in Nigeria. She said the prosperity of a nation is measured by the prosperity of a woman. She is passionate about women empowerment and we all should be too.

But one important thing we should take away from her speech is as women we should always  challenge ourselves to take a leap. One striking thing she said is, her sister told her that she won’t be able to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and she did. She slept in the cold for 7 days but she achieved her dream. She was lagging behind the tall muscular men but she made it. She was motivated because she was told she couldn’t.

When we are told we are not good enough, do we agree or do we push ourselves harder. We don’t need external encouragement. It’s in us to achieve a lot, that encouragement we need is within us, if only we would pick ourselves up and do it.

5. No Job Is Ever Too Small For Us To Do : The panel discussion was moderated by Mmanti Umoh and here is one point we should all take away. No job is ever too small for us to do, we should start from somewhere. She said she often hear graduates say they can’t do a N20,000 job, meanwhile they haven’t gotten any job. She has once being a house help and earned N10,000 because she needed a job. It was a passing phrase. Nothing is wrong from starting small and nothing is wrong from starting somewhere.

We are often too proud to pick up jobs because we believe it is beneath us but most times this is just a passing phrase in our lives but we are too short sighted to see it. We are too scared to take a calculated risk. We rather remain stagnant.

But here is a parting word for us, take a calculated risk and learn the rudiments of your trade or business.

Be a great entrepreneur.

And that’s the important points you should know from AWLO’s launch of its Global Youth Council and its Youth Mentorship Summit.

Here are more pictures :

Cheers!