As activities marking International Women's Day continue in Lagos, women have been charged to add their voices to Nation-building homes and stand firm on issues as they affect women and girls.
The Director of News, Lagos Television, Mrs Abimbola Bello, gave the charge in Lagos on Thursday while commemorating International Women's Day.
With the theme, "Accelerate Action", while the topic of the NAWOJ symposium was "Young Women in Journalism: Mentorship, Growth and Breaking the Glass Ceiling". Mrs Bello said the programme was apt as all hands are on deck to ensure that women are supported to aspire to leadership positions and contribute their quota to nation-building.
Sharing her newsroom experience, she explained that, in a newsroom setting, women are regarded as men not to spite them but to ensure they stand tall with their male counterparts.
" Women should accelerate action on so many things and in different ways too," noting that " how you see yourselves and what your goals are should be prioritized, it is also important to plan how to intend to achieve them ". Bello stated
Mrs Rashidat Sanni-Afolabi, the Health Education Officer, Local Action Committee on AIDS (LACA), Ikeja LGA, having talked on the Prevention of Mother's - To - Child Transmission of HIV, PMTCT, said that, women journalists should help enlighten members of the public on the dangers of transmitting the virus to their babies as the awareness is low.
She noted, "It is important to register early for Ante-natal where the necessary test will be carried out, and if positive, you will be placed on Antiretroviral Drugs to prevent the transmission".
Nothing that HIV is not a death sentence, " there are drugs to suppress the viral load to a minimal level, but there is the need to adhere strictly to drug prescriptions, taking it as and when due, and there are support systems that you can relate with ". She stated
Sanni-Afolabi said that if more women are enlightened about their HIV/AIDS status during pregnancy, it would help greatly in mother-to-child transmission during delivery.
She said, "Naturally, people don't like to take drugs, but with the right sensitization, enlightenment and education, more women would like to know their status during pregnancy and take to instructions because of their unborn child ".
On her part, Ms Oluseyi Kadiri, a J K A Aggey Foundation, said her foundation supports women, girls and less privileged persons in society, hence the reason it partnered with NAWOJ to provide medical services for participants at the symposium.
"We are checking for Blood Pressure (BP) and sugar level, we are particular with people's health.
" We felt women in journalism should know their BP status and sugar level; we don't want a situation like, I don't know my BP, am overworked,", she said.
Kadiri said that the foundation was on the ground to prevent slumping during working hours due to high BP and to avoid relying on BP drugs, which are now on the high side.
She advised women to celebrate themselves and always check their BP twice a month.
Earlier, the Chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos Chapter, Dr Adeola Ekine, said that growth in journalism was driven by continuous learning.
Ekine stated, " Young women should embrace opportunities for self-improvement by engaging in training Programmes, digital media literacy, investigative journalism and ethical reporting ".
"As the media landscape evolves, we must remain at the forefront of these changes, ensuring that our voices and narratives are relevant, credible and impactful," she said
According to her, breaking the glass ceiling requires audacity, resilience and collective efforts.
Adeola called on women to rise to leadership positions within and outside their workspaces and take up decision-making roles wherever they found themselves.
The high point of the event was the health check of Blood Pressure and the exhibition of bags, perfumes, and Adire material amongst other things
