Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), Mrs Ibukun Awosika, has urged Nigerian women to develop discipline in financial management by shunning extravagant and unnecessary spending.
Awosika made the remark in a capacity building programme entitled, ”FirstGem Empowerment Programme” organised by (FBN) on Saturday in Port Harcourt.
She observed that some women spent more money on expensive things like weave-ons, especially Brazilian hair; gold jewellery, clothing and others, urging them to cut down their spending and save money.
She said that women were assets to their households, adding, ”this is because they are able to stand in on the day of hardship,” she said.
She noted that some women could make money but did not understand the real management of money or have informed judgement on how to manage money.
Awosika said some women could not even make efforts to make money on their own but relaxed because they had rich husbands.
She said, ”the wife of a rich man is not a rich woman; she has a borrowed appearance.”
She explained that, that was why when the rich husband die, the wife if lucky not to be thrown away by her husband’s relatives, would not know how to manage the wealth left by her husband.
Awosika urged women to start wealth creation and shun being a wife who is a liability.
She said that they needed courage, resolve and strength of character as well as grit and grind in order to be relentless in their will to do their best in wealth creation..
”If you want to be successful in building wealth, you must build the right circle of friends, who can set goals and come back together to check the rate of achievement,” she said.
Also speaking, Mrs Subu Giwa-Amu of Brookstone Investment and Properties said that the steps along real estate investment journey was to aspire, set target, act, manage and diversify.
She urged women not to invest in any business they did not understand and should not always jump at the first offer given to them.
She also advised them not to wait for opportunities to come as there is a lot of opportunities around.
Giwa-Amu added, ”start now but respect certain life principles, do not cheat so that you will be successful.”
One of the participants, Mrs Meke Therazita, said that she liked the lectures and hoped that women would try their best to improve and be self-dependent on their business as well as help their husbands.
Another participant, Miss Juliana Masi described the lecture as having great impact, saying she learnt a lot from it.
She said that she had resolved to embark on real estate business.
According to her, as a woman there’s a strong need for me to create wealth for myself and my children and of course to support my husband, I will not like him to always give me what I want.
”I can be self-reliant, self-sustainable and FirstGem has given me a platform by building my capacity to do that and I am very grateful,” Masi said.