By Peter.
Hundreds of powerhouse women—leaders, hustlers, policymakers, and dream-weavers from Africa and beyond—kicked off the 24th annual Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) conference in Lagos on Thursday, diving headfirst into a raw call to ditch the drama and step into their unfiltered truth.
Under the bold banner ‘O.W.N – Own. Walk. Nurture’, the gathering isn’t just panels and pitches; it’s a fierce rally cry for authenticity in the grind, where the real battleground? Your own mirror.
Opening the mic with unshakeable fire, Justice Amina Augie (retd.), ex-Supreme Court heavyweight and conference chair, dropped her battle scars like badges of honor. Diagnosed with temporal arteritis—a brutal autoimmune beast that turns your body’s defenses against its own veins—she could’ve ghosted the event. Instead? She showed up, owning her scars as her superpower.
“Listen up: Ditch the hate, skip the side-eye at others. You’re racing solo—against your doubts, your lazy days, your ‘not today’ whispers,” Augie laid it bare. “You’ve got gifts nobody else packs, storms only you could weather. Rise. That’s the win.”
She shredded the myth of cutthroat climbs: Envy? A self-made trap. Rivalry? Just noise. “Secure in your skin, you light up the room—not to outshine, but because your grind’s yours alone. Swap stories, and we’d all crumble differently. Lifting others? It doesn’t drag you low; it levels us up.”
The crowd? Hooked—nods rippling like waves, a few eyes misty, the air thick with that quiet “yes, this” energy.
Setting the stage earlier, Bisi Adeyemi, WIMBIZ Board Chair, framed it as a personal enlistment: “This theme’s your wake-up: Claim your narrative—flaws, fire, and all. It’s not polished perfection; it’s your raw edge that carves paths for the squad behind you.”
From boardrooms to bootstraps, WIMBIZ 2025 is flipping scripts on sisterhood—less comparison, more collective climb. In a world quick to pit women against each other, this Lagos huddle? Pure reminder: The crown’s already yours. Wear it.
