IBEDC Will Ensure Gender Mix With 20% Female Employees – MD/CEO

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IBEDC

By; BAYO AKAMO,  Ibadan

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, (IBEDC), Engineer Kingsley Achife has disclosed that the company will improve the gender mix for female employees to at least 20 per cent.

Engineer Achife stated this on Tuesday at the conference for women in the organization, christened, Disco4Women Conference, 2022, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Speaking through the Chief Business Transformation and Strategy Officer, Mr Iranola Ayodeji said IBEDC is at the forefront of Gender Equality in the power sector in Nigeria.

The IBEDC Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer pointed out  that this, the company is premise on statistics which indicated that women in leadership roles perform better than their male counterparts in strategic decision making. 

Emphasizing that the company sees engendering as one of its main growth strategies in the medium and long term, Engineer Achife stressed that the virtues  women are known for cannot be overshadowed by cold hard facts and figures that male managers tend to base their decision on. 

“For so long a period, the Nigerian Power industry has been seen as the domain of the male gender. This fact is even buttressed by the terminologies used to identify roles in the industry e.g., Linesmen, Draftsmen etc. However, I am pleased to inform you that IBEDC have changed the narrative by being the first Disco to adopt more gender friendly nomenclatures such as lines worker. We hope other Discos will follow suit”, he said. 

Engineer Achife added, ” As earlier stated, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) is at the forefront of Gender Equality in the power sector in Nigeria and the company sees engendering as one of its main growth strategies in the medium and long term.” 

“It is in view of this that IBEDC partnered with USAID to push the engendering agenda across the power sector in Nigeria and beyond. IBEDC have even formed a team of employees, nicknamed Manbassadors and trained by USAID, to engage the male and female gender from all walks of life to embrace the concept of Gender Equality and yours truly has been appointed as the MenEngage Champion.”  

He stressed ” furthermore, IBEDC has plans to improve the gender mix for female employees to at least 20 percent in the short term and then scale up as time goes by”. 

“The truth must be told. Statistics have shown that, on the average, women in leadership roles perform better than their male counterparts in strategic decision making. The gut feeling and instinct that women are known for cannot be overshadowed by cold hard facts and figures that male managers tend to base their decision on.”

Speaking an Executive Director, EZ 37 Solution Ltd and guest Speaker at the event, Mrs Patricia Akinlotan declared that the conference was about women equality and empowering women to rise above the limitations placed on themselves.

Mrs Akinlotan tasked  government to prioritise education for women “because if you educate a woman you train a generation”, saying, ” 

everything starts with you and if you remove the glass ceiling on your mind, you clear all obstacles and you have intentional focus, then you see what others are not seeing. You can have access to information because we live in a digital age and information is power”.

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