By Sewe Ishola

The need for women to be the very best at what they do was the focus of discussion at the inaugural session of Dare To Inspire, which held today in Lagos.

The Dare To Inspire initiative, which is a brainchild of Mrs Bunmi Adebimpe had an admirable selection of women, who are successful in their different spheres of endeavours, giving them a platform to share their experiences, their successes, their challenges all in a bid to inspire the younger women, especially the younger Muslim woman.

Speakers and participants at the Dare To Inspire event held in Lagos recently.

Speaking at the event,  HR expert, Mrs Kafilat Araoye emphasized the need to have  knowledge as it was the only way to build competence.

This was a common theme for all the speakers as they hammered on the fact that being knowledgeable stands a Muslim woman, who covers her head out.

Convener of DTI, Bunmi Ghaziat Adebimpe with Keynote speaker, Mrs Shereefah Abiola Andu of Arabel.

Another speaker, Dr. Fatimah Habeebu Adeyemi made it clear thatt “being a muslim woman and covering up is not an hinderance, it doesn’t hold your back in any way. Go out there, reach out and achieve your dreams. Discover your potentials, you are made for a purpose, achieve it before you leave here.”

For Mrs Silifat Olabimpe Afolabi, who is a core finance professional, it took a lot for her to gain acceptance at her profession but her tenacity paid off in the end, as she is now the team lead of the compliance and control team of  her organisation.

Participants and speakers at the Dare To Inspire event in Lagos.

She said, “What we want to do is to inspire but we can also get inspired as well. Getting the next generation ready for the challenges of the world. It’s getting them ready for the challenges of the professional world. It is not female friendly but you can do it, you can actually excel in that environment.”

Still motivating the younger women, psychiatrist, Dr Maymunah Yusuf denounced the low level of awareness about the issue of mental health in our environment. She encouraged all to cultivate the right kinds of relationships as that contributes to being in a healthy mental state.

Some of the attendees also shared what they have learnt. Rukayat Giwa, who is a TV personality said, “Basically, I have learnt you have to take charge of your life. Most people are just out there, who look down on Hijabites. They feel they don’t have what it takes but I keep telling people, you can be better than the best. When I open my mouth to speak, people wonder, if I have left the country before but I haven’t, I have only decided to be the better than the best. Be the best you can be. Love yourself, learn about everything, no knowledge is a waste.”

One of the speakers at Dare To Inspire, Kafilat Araoye.

Another, Mujidah Sakibu  shared her experience;”one mindset I will take away from this meeting is that, if you don’t know your stuff, no one would give you any recognition for something you don’t know.

If you want to be known for something in your own community or at the international level then you have to be good at what you do. But it all starts from the place of knowledge, you have to know yourself first of all, before you can begin to understand what you even want to do and why you want to do it. If you don’t have all of these together, it can become hectic.

However, once you know yourself, the reason you do the things you do, why you want to do that thing, that is when you begin to have a voice and say you want to make an impact,to provide a solution.

whether or not  you want to cover up, to compete effectively, you have got to know your stuff better than anyone else out there.”

Expressing delight with the impact made, the organiser, Mrs Adebimpe reiterated the importance of expertise;”the most important thing is you have to be the best at everything you do. You must show love to people, be tolerant, treat people well. Even if you pray as much as possible, you have to be a good person internally. Let people get inspired by your words, your actions, That is why this event is called , Dare to Inspire.”

Photo credit:Instagram @daretoinspire