Women in every part of the world are agitating for recognition, respect, change and equal rights. They want their voices to be heard. They also want to be given equal opportunities in all walks of life, just like their male counterparts.

For a long time, women have been discriminated against, directly and indirectly. They have been denied many entitlements in the name of culture, religion and society. Some cultures treat women as if they are invisible, and then there are those that treat women as tools to be used by men. We also have the cases of some religions that isolate women and prevent them from partaking in religious activities because their doctrines instil that women are unclean beings.

Today, a great number of women all over the world have made it clear that they are tired of assuming the second place. They have shown the world that they no longer want to remain invisible. They have taken up their rightful places in the world. And they no longer wanted to be treated as tools, but as humans. These women are done with being branded misfits, because they know they are capable of performing several roles in society. Today’s woman wants to be who she desired to be, irrespective of what the society, religion or culture thinks.

But women’s “liberation” movements haven’t been much fruitful because there are still so many women who are yet to come out of their shells. These are the ones who have been broken by the society. These ones will find it difficult to heal because the damages done to them have eaten so deep into their very essence. It will take time and lots of hard work for these damages to be reversed; if at all it will be possible.

In the world today, there are still so many women that need to be helped.

This set of women have been brainwashed into believing they are incapable of achieving anything substantial because they lack the ability to think clearly and act logically. Derogatory statements such as, “Women don’t have brain/sense” have caused much more damage than you could tell. What is more, this statement is made by both men and women, and they believed it to be true. This fallacy has cost many women their self-worth because they thought that men are the only ones that think things through. The end result of this is that a lot of women depend on men to make decisions for them, even if the decisions were disadvantageous to them (the women).

Some women have been indoctrinated into believing that they lack physical strength to carry out certain kinds of work. Because of this, they shy away from jobs, which they assumed were carved out for men alone. Today, women are uncomfortable with going into engineering because they see it as a man’s profession. They run away from medicine because it is “too stressful” and “women can’t stand stress”. They don’t own mega businesses because they will stress themselves with travels, board meetings, and all. So, all women think about are running petty businesses and going into professions that are “less stressful” but pay close to nothing.

Women have been taught that their major functions in this world are to get married, have babies, nurture their children, take care of their husbands and their husbands’ homes, and then help the men in their lives to make it here on earth and in the life after. Yes, most women believe they have no life of their own; they see themselves as existing for the sole aim of making their husbands and children succeed. Some were even made to believe that in the life after, they are still tools used to keep men happy. In other words, their “slavery” lasts for eternity because they are women. This sort of women see themselves through the mirrors of the men in their lives.

By the way, do you still remember that Nigerian remarks that insinuates that “a woman’s certificate ends in the kitchen”? Well, that short statement has done more harm than you could tell. Desist from using it.

The outcome of all these can be seen in the lives of many women today.

Many women don’t think highly of themselves. They have accepted the second place in the world. They don’t want to battle or drag anything with men. In fact, any woman that challenges even a junior male colleague or a younger male neighbour will be chided and reminded that, “He’s a man” and “You’re a woman”. This is just a way of telling her to shut up and swallow whatever that was dished out to her by anybody from the opposite sex. If she insists on being herself and staying expressive, she will be branded “vile”, “uncouth”, “irresponsible”, “non-wife material”, “ill-mannered”, and so on and so forth.

The danger of women thinking lowly of themselves is that they transfer the low self-worth mentality to the younger generations. They restrict their daughters from going after the careers and hobbies they love without any good reason except that they are girls. They train their daughters to accept the second place, or worse become invisible. They train their daughters to serve men irrespective of their age and status, and to accept whatever the male folk did to them because “they are men and they are like that” and “women must learn to endure”. In fact, women with low self-worth pass on the baton of servitude and inferiority complex to their daughters, who will in turn pass it down to their own daughters. And so the story continues.

To be honest, parading the streets in groups, holding and displaying placards, chanting anthems about equality and equity, and attacking any man or woman that questions the rationale, won’t really solve the problems facing womanhood today (though it can give women temporary morale). If it would have done so, by now we won’t have laws and cultural practices that unfavoured women. Yes, a lot of laws in Nigeria don’t favour women but so many people don’t know that. However, these laws are still there because the women that will amend them haven’t shown up yet. So, restoring the dignity of womanhood in Nigeria isn’t about women declaring feminism in real life and in the social media and attacking every man that crosses their path. That is not the right way to restore women’s lost glory.

How Women Dignity Can Truly Be Restored

If you want to build a house that will last for a very long time, you start by building a very strong foundation. If this stage isn’t well done, then the house is at risk of imminent collapse. The house owner will struggle day in day out to keep it standing by patching up cracks and all. This is just the same thing with restoring women’s dignity in the society – starting from foundation.

The only way to restore the dignity of women is by bringing up our girls right. From the moment a girl-child is born, the parents should see her as a human being, capable of achieving anything she sets her heart on. They shouldn’t restrict her from going after her dreams or make her look down on herself. She needs to learn to be bold, intentional and assertive. She should be taught to respect others, but never to place herself below them. She should be taught that she has roles to play in the world but that her gender doesn’t restrict her from doing more than she ought to. Let the girl-child see herself as human first, before assuming the role of a woman.

This is not to say that only the girl-child should be paid attention to. As you train your daughters to find their places in the world, train your sons to find theirs too. Don’t share tasks for your children based on their genders; give them a chance to choose for themselves. Allow the children to grow up as humans, not as different genders. When they grow up with this mindset, they will bring forth a society that will be ready and willing to give women their rightful positions.

Trust me, until the universe raises humans who do not look down on the members of the other gender, the fight for women liberation will continue for a long time.

Two days ago, the CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner announced that he will be stepping down to take the role of Executive chairman of LinkedIn, and Ryan Roslansky will take his place as CEO.

“Last summer, I began talking with Satya about transitioning from my current dream job to my next one and helping him decide on my successor as CEO. Today, I am excited to announce that effective June 1, 2020, I will be stepping into the role of Executive Chairman of LinkedIn and Ryan Roslansky, currently our global head of product, will become LinkedIn’s next CEO. Ryan will report directly to Satya and serve as a member of his senior leadership team, in the same way I have over the last three years,” the statement said.

When Jeff Wiener became the CEO of LinkedIn in 2008, the career social media platform was having 33 million users only. His 11 years on the job at LinkedIn saw a transformational experience and massive growth; the platform saw increase in users to the tune of 675 million and counting.

Weiner’s prodigious leadership in the company has provided scintillating experiences for companies, HR professionals and job seekers. LinkedIn has become a mediator bridging the wide gap that used to exist between these parties. The basic version is free, providing limited but essential features for users in the career field, while the premium offers extra features at a cost. However, the platform has given people the opportunity to share ideas, connect with professionals, advertise jobs, and get jobs, all at the comfort of their fingertips.

Weiner’s ideas and approach to work has resulted in LinkedIn’s expansion to Ireland, where the social media platform is currently employing 1,200 staff led by Sharon McCooey. The next destination of its expansion is Dubai…

LinkedIn went public in 2011, and was purchased in 2016 by Microsoft at the cost of $27 billion, the biggest acquisition the software has made. The social media giant has since taken a leap to the success side of business, commanding a workforce of over 16,000 employees and generating $7.5 billion in revenue. And as Weiner noted, “it feels like LinkedIn is just getting started.”

Notably, the progress wasn’t as a result of Weiner’s solo efforts only, others in LinkedIn have augmented his visionary leadership ever since he joined the company from Yahoo.

“When you’re fortunate enough to work at the right company, with the right people, at the right time, a job can become something much greater than just a job.” Jeff Weiner said. “The company’s mission and vision become indistinguishable from your own true north, helping you find even greater clarity and sense of purpose.”

Ryan Roslansky is one of the figures in LinkedIn who helped shape the company. He was the first employee hired by Weiner and has gone ahead to win the praise of his boss with his innovativeness.

“He has been essential to the company’s success ever since,” Weiner said of Ryan. “Ryan has been a key architect in reshaping LinkedIn’s increasingly complex consumer and enterprise applications into a single, holistic, global ecosystem. In doing so, he has helped lead one of the best performing stretches in the company’s history.”

Another notable character in the success story is Tomer Cohen, who Jeff described as “an inspiring leader” and who has been instrumental in shaping their product ecosystem strategy. Tomer worked in many departments of LinkedIn and stood out in all, a reason he was chosen to take the place of Ryan.

“Tomer exemplifies the best of collaboration at LinkedIn by working without boundaries across the organization and has an unwavering focus on building products that drive significant value for members and customers. I couldn’t be more confident in the future of our product team and strategy under his leadership,” Weiner said.

One significant lesson in this succession changes is “grooming.” Each one of them has been prepared, mentored to take the position with ease, a strategy for preservation of a successful legacy. Weiner acknowledged the mentorship of LinkedIn’s founder Reid Hoffman, and pledged to do the same to others who will be stepping into bigger shoes.

“As for my role going forward, Ryan and I discussed the value of serving as Executive Chairman as Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, did for me.” Weiner said in acknowledgement of Hoffman’s mentorship. “This is especially meaningful given there is no individual who has had more influence on my tenure as CEO than Reid. As LinkedIn’s new Executive Chairman, I hope to serve in much the same way.”

So it appears that while Reid was grooming Weiner for the position of Executive Chairman, Weiner was grooming Ryan for the role of Chief Executive Officer, and Ryan was doing the same for Tomer. This common sense principle of in-house breeding of successors defies the norm of dependence on already made CEOs and top executives. It doesn’t only preserve the work space relationship; it creates opportunity of growth for the company and its employees.

Upon acquisition, Microsoft allowed LinkedIn to operate independently, a decision that has undoubtedly spurred its growth and development. LinkedIn’s co-founder Allen Blue told CNBC: “All the growth we’ve been seeing has been in the way we’ve been operating our own businesses.”

Apparently, LinkedIn caved out a niche for itself as it is evident in the recent changes in roles at the company.

A week ago, Google launched its first Developer Space for Africa in Lagos. The hub of creativity was established as part of the tech giant’s aim to expand its tech assistance programmes in Africa. Google’s plan is to provide a hub where entrepreneurs could access the amenities they need to thrive. That includes funds, broadband, mentorship and creation of space for developers and investors in the tech industry.

Google’s country manager, Juliet Ehimuan said the hub is part of the company’s efforts to establish entrepreneur-enabling facilities that will boost the chances of those in tech. It is part of the 2017 series of events that culminated in Launchpad of several tech initiatives under “Google in Nigeria.”

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai and other executives of the company were in Lagos to explore and initiate tech opportunities through the “Google for Nigeria” event. The launch of the developer’s space is a follow up of the events that started then in 2017, and has since fostered about 47 startups by providing the platform that helped them get funding and mentorship they need for growth.

The new Google’s Developers Space is situated at Gerald road Ikoyi as the first of its kind in Africa. It has 120-seating capacity hall, meeting rooms, lounge/café, among other facilities. And it is free according to the Launchpad accelerator Africa head of operations Onajite Emerhor.

“It will be available for individual use, code labs, hackathons, tech events, training, boot camps, startup related programmes, and other Google initiatives,” she said. She also noted that the space will be free for all approved events, only sponsored programmes are not allowed.

Emerhor also spoke about the process of admittance to Space. She said all intended businesses must be tech-based and aimed at promoting digital knowledge. Individuals who wish to use the facility will use the online application through a person of contact (POC). The POC arrangement is to manage applications and avoid overcrowding, by not allowing multiple events at the same time.

She also explained that extended usage of the hub is not allowed unless for Google Launchpad accelerator alumni and investors meetings from outside Africa.

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy has thrown its weight on the initiative and promised to collaborate with Google in the future to promote digital knowledge in Nigeria.

The head of Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), Abimbola Alale promised to avail space within the agency’s campus if Google wishes to extend the initiative to Abuja.

Lagos State Government established such a hub for tech entrepreneurs in the State back in 2019 – the Eko Innovation Center, for the incubation of startups. Victor Afolabi, the pioneer of the Center said the idea is not only about incubation of startups, but it is also designed to offer platforms and opportunities for collaborations to entrepreneurs in the tech community.

“The motivation was the need to create an enabling environment for young people to develop innovative solutions and create employment while leveraging on technology,” he said.

The State Government has promised to support Google’s innovative initiatives so as to keep pace with global technological trends, and empower young people to explore and make innovative creations that will result in job creation.

Google has established development hubs in San Francisco, U.S.A and Singapore, making it only three in its name around the world.

There have been other tech hubs in Nigeria, but most of them are commercialized which makes it difficult for newbies with creative ideas to access, due to the cost of the space.

Lagos has 35 innovation centers, Abuja has 13 and Rivers has 5. These numbers have yielded employment for the youth and placed Nigeria in a position of competition with other African countries. There are over 440 active tech hubs in Africa with South Africa (59) Nigeria (55) Egypt (34) Kenya (30) and morocco (25) these countries lead with about 45% of the hubs in their region.

The launch of Google’s Development Space has added to Nigeria’s lead in the African tech industry. However, it falls short of what is expected as most of the hubs in Nigeria are privately owned and do not measure up to the tech needs in the country.