Zenith Bank and the Ford Foundation on Saturday honoured women at the inaugural Woman of Power award held at The Civic Centre, Lagos.
The event marked the climax of Zenith Bank’s activities to commemorate Women’s Month in March. It followed the International Women’s Day seminar held on March 9 at the same venue.
The award, themed “Celebrating Resilience, Leadership, and Generosity”, recognised 19 women selected from the six geopolitical zones for their work in trade, petty manufacturing, education and agriculture.
According to the organisers, the initiative was created to highlight women making contributions in their communities, including market women, small business owners, educators and healthcare workers.
The organisers said the awardees were selected based on leadership, community impact, innovation, perseverance, integrity and service.
Among those honoured were Regina Amankulor, a retired nurse working with young people in Abia State; Mary Matanmi, coordinator of the Nigeria Association of Hairdressers, Barbers and Cosmetologists in Lagos State; and Ifeanyi P. Ugwueze, a guidance counsellor pursuing a doctorate.
Others included Amina Musa, a trade educator in Abuja; Adenike Lambo, Iyaloja of Ilorin; Sadiya Abubakar, an educator in the Federal Capital Territory; Erikan Idem Andrew, a trader in Port Harcourt; Ngozi Nwankpa, a fashion designer in Aba; Hadiza Umar, a development specialist in Kaduna; Joy Ezenwa, a trader in Kano; Shola Babalola, founder of Mama Sho Honey in Lagos; and Josephine Ugwu of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
In her keynote address, the group managing director of Zenith Bank, Adaora Umeoji, represented by executive director Adobi Nwapa, said the bank remains committed to gender inclusion.
“Zenith Bank’s commitment to gender inclusion is not a rhetoric but one of the ethos that the bank holds very dearly,” she said.
She added, “Zenith Bank has a 50-50 gender ratio with women occupying strategic positions in the bank’s management and Board up to the current Group Managing Director being the very first female to hold that position.”
Regional director of the Ford Foundation, Chichi Aniagolu, described the award as an eye-opener, saying the selection process revealed the scale of contributions by women across the country.
Zenith Bank and the Ford Foundation said they would continue to sustain and expand the initiative.
The bank also highlighted its women-focused programmes, including the Z Woman initiative and its sponsorship of the NBBF Women’s Basketball League.
