LASU VC advocates gender parity in leadership positions

THE vice chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, has  lent  her voice to the growing calls for gender equality between the male and female gender in the country and the world over.

She said that women would compete favourably with their male counterparts in any field of endeavour if given the right opportunity.

She made the call at an event organised by the institution’s Centre for Response and Prevention of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day with officials from the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) Nigeria in attendance.

Speaking on the theme of the event, ‘DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality,’ the VC said that women are doing well across fields, hence, they should be given fair chance to compete with their male counterparts for leadership positions in  the areas of governance, administration, politics, boardroom, academia, among others platforms, if they possees the requirements for such roles.”

She said that she would always champion the cause of women wherever she finds herself and would continue to do so till something desirable begins to happen in that regard.

In a statement made available by the university’s spokesman, Mr Jeariogbe Olaniyi, the VC noted that “In LASU women are given equal platforms to compete with men even as she is not the only woman in the management team of the university.”

The VC therefore condemned some ill luck, such as sexual violence, teenage pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, early child marriage, among others associated with women and girls alike in the society, saying such ills must be checkmated.

In her remarks at the event, the leader of the UNFPA team and country representative, Nigeria, Ulla Mueller, expressed her excitement at having a woman as the vice chancellor of LASU.

“Unlike before, women are no longer taking the back seat in leadership roles,” she said.

She called for the sustenance of such privileges across spheres of endeavours and an increased commitment to the fight against early child marriage and unwanted pregnancies among teenage girls in the country.