Funmi Olumade; a Nigerian-Canadian Event Management woman discusses with The Publisher/Editor-In-Chief of OASES NEWS; Michael Kehinde Abiodun on event management business and issues affecting our society. Please read on.

OASES NEWS: Tell us about your event management business?

Funmi: Event management involves organizing, creating and directing events; it could be a party, festival, naming, birthday, wedding and other social activities which is directed to satisfy the customers. Customer satisfaction is paramount and is the success behind every event management business all over the world. It is a very challenging job as it involves diplomacy, hard work and patience. It is people’s industry; I see it as fun because I have the skills, abilities and passion. I studied Sociology at York University and I work at Canada Post and you know the Ontario slogan is “Yours to discover” I am able to discover what I am good at, and here I am. That is why I am called the “Iya Meto of Canada”, meaning ‘The Chief Event Organizer in Canada. I was conferred with the Honorary Chieftaincy title of the “IYA METO OF CANADA” in 2003 by the Yoruba Community Association, the certificate was presented at the 6th Odu’a Awards of Excellence in the city of Toronto, Canada.

OASESNEWS: Tell us the events you handled in the past.

Funmi: I organized the First, second and third Youth Talent shows in Toronto, I hosted the First Mr. Eko contest in Ohio, Columbus, USA. I hosted Funke Akindele’s Movies Premiere in Toronto, “Jenifa” and “Apadi” in 2008 at the Yoruba Community Centre. I participated in several stage plays, movies, advertisement and cultural dance.

OASESNEWS: What is the place of women in the society in the next ten years from now from your own perspective vi-s-vis Nigeria?

Funmi: Globally, women have started to claim a pride of place in National Politics. Today, women are found in nearly all professions which used to be reserved or we thought were meant for men, like Medicine, engineering, Law and Banking The same trend is taking root in politics. Women have presented themselves for leadership positions in all the political parties. The Nigerian Ruling party - PDP has been quite inclusive by appointing women as Ministers and heads of important national agencies. The government of Goodluck Jonathan is making attempt to meet the 35% quota mandated by the United Nations to be reserved for women across the three arms of government - the executive, legislature, and judiciary. But we are still not quite there. Other countries, such as Rwanda, seem to be doing better at this time. In short, I see Nigerian women making impressive gains in terms of empowerment in Nigerian Politics.

OASESNEWS: Do you foresee a Woman President in Nigeria in the near future?

Funmi: Well, the beginning of this is the opening of opportunities for women in national politics. Women leadership is not new to us in Nigeria. Queen Amina was a leader over a century ago in one of the most conservative parts of Nigeria. If you are familiar with the history of Nigeria, you will realize that there is no in-built resistance in Nigeria towards leadership by women. But there are certain cultural factors militating against women in politics. Culturally, staying out late is considered dishonorable for women. Also, as a result of culturally assigned roles, most women are busy attending to their family needs all day, leaving them very tired and unable to attend meetings at night. These cultural factors will be mitigated by increasing education and gradual redistribution of gender roles in our society. Women want to assume leadership at all levels, presidency inclusive. I see that happening in the future in Nigeria.

OASES NEWS: You participated in the “bring-back-our-girls” here in Toronto, how do you feel about the kidnapped girls?

Funmi: Honestly, as a mother, I feel it. The government shouldn’t have waited so long. Our military was capable of quickly swinging in to get these girls on time but now one month, two, three, four! I think our government should work on safety and security in Nigeria...

OASES NEWS: What advice would you give our future leaders in Nigeria?

Funmi: Future Nigeria leaders must strive to cater for the needs of the populace. Development is not just building houses and roads. True development is the economic and social empowerment of the people. There is far too much poverty in Nigeria and the gap between the rich and the poor is just disheartening. Future leaders need to embark on relevant development, i.e., people-oriented, inward-looking development effort, based on equitable distribution of resources through all sectors of the population. Education is central to the improvement of society; future leaders must spend a lot of resources in developing the educational system and making it affordable to all, irrespective of status. We do have a comparative advantage in agriculture, with an abundance of arable and fertile land; future leaders must take the diversification of our economy as priority. The current dependence on the oil and gas sector is not sustainable.

OASES NEWS: Any advice for the Youth of Today?

Funmi: The youth of today should be conscious of the inequities in our system, accept the historic responsibility which this places on them as leaders of tomorrow. Nigeria has been retarded by tribalism, corruption, nepotism, unwarranted excessive religious intolerance and unreasonable cultural beliefs and practices. The youth of today need to think of how to pull the nation out of these debilitating syndromes. They need to be politically active and openly dismissive of the ills that characterized our national politics. They must pay attention to the qualities of a good leader; good education, good character, good imagination, foresight, determination and focus.