 Welcome back if so watching the breakfast and plus TV Africa and lead today's international women's day And it's celebrated much in every single year the theme for this year is gender equality today for a Sustainable tomorrow and of course the hashtag going around the world is breaking the bias looking at Bridging the gap between men and women and ending inequality as far as the world is concerned and talking about Gender equality and sustainability and the United Nations were told is using this also as an opportunity For to call for climate action as far as women is concerned and you look at that also sustainable Development and sustainability is something that the United Nations has been preaching For quite a while now. It's a very important day because it's celebrated all over the world on this day We have activities organized in the spirit of women empowerment and gender equality also to celebrate Women who are recognized and celebrated for their achievements and their contributions to leadership and society As a whole we have one of those women right here. Who is worth celebrating? She is a Hotelier and the lawyer the chief executive officer of Loomsey suits Oh Loma okoro is our guest on plus TV Africa the breakfast is for the Loma nice to have you Thank you for having me Fantastic fantastic and today's International Women's Day and what does such a day mean to you? You had interpreted we're looking at Entrepreneurship and the role of women in entrepreneurship. What does it mean to you? So for me is a day to celebrate the girl child because I will say that in Africa We have come a long way from where we used to be back in the day But it all us still has to be done So for me is a very good day to celebrate the girl child the woman generally and our role in the society Fantastic and when it comes to and women in the Entrepreneurship space, you know entrepreneurship is something that drives the world today because of what we see technology e-commerce globalization How or what do women go through in that in that space? So I will say that from my experience. I will divide women basically into two the educated ones and uneducated ones The ones who are educated people like me I will say we have been fortunate Because by virtue of the education that I have by virtue of the kind of exposure that I have I've been able to stretch Myself and get to the I won't have gotten to my limits because my journey still continues But I can dream I can say things I can dare to say I will want to be here and there and there because of the privilege of how I was born And the kind of education that I I caught but then you have those ones that are not so educated Or not so privileged. So because of that the society makes them stay where? Or nearly they shouldn't have been so there are a lot of women who are dying with the dreams that it that they have and those dreams will never be actualized because they haven't been given a chance to do so and not because of their own fault, but because of the kind of Expectations that's they've been placed or they've been expected to reach based on their surrounding circumstances I'm talking about all those who are less educated less privileged less Financially independent, you know, so for me that that makes a whole lot of difference Okay, so well, let's talk about what it means to be an entrepreneur in Nigeria and you know show your experience With the challenges. I mean the challenges that entrepreneurs actually face in Nigeria Is it just limited to other specialties other challenges, you know with the women folk? So I would say like I said because I've in my head. I've been able to make that dichotomy Between the maybe educated and I'm not so educated So for people like us we will say we'll face the same challenges that the men face Because I will run my business the way that a man would you know because of the privileges that I have Well, I'm looking at how tough Nigeria has become How in the last few weeks especially for those of us who have been monitoring for prices These are prices and things like that and then you're seeing women who in their homes cannot contribute at times They are well-being so for those kind of entrepreneurs with very little assistance the petty Seller, you know along the road the Akara seller the woman doing small POS business Though for those ones I will say they will go through hell because if I can say I'm going through a whole lot I'm trying to imagine how it will be for women like that because most times the At that level they don't receive as much support as the men would because a lot of them will be a lot of them are Restricted by the confines of marriage You know which I That's still a very sensitive topic Especially for most people but we still have a lot of people who believe that women do not deserve to have a source of livelihood or Do not deserve to earn anything so I can imagine if you were a woman without supports You're basically saying let me fight this entrepreneurship journey on my own without support And then you're now faced with the challenges that we are faced with now it to be easy for them to just collapse So the people who feel women shouldn't be out there Yeah, I should be hidden and you know, but I would you say that in Nigeria today They the impact of women in entrepreneurship be it no matter how small the business is not fully Appreciated the role and the the amount of business every women do is not fully appreciated I will say that because a whole lot of us are at the lower rung of the ladder Most people prefer women to be doing the petty trading the little business You know small money here small money there But once we start to get up there it becomes surprising even though there is now a whole lot of movement around the world to Support women in entrepreneurship the banks are doing it, you know a lot of foreign organizations are doing it But how many people have the knowledge and the wherewithal to access this kind of funds You know the way that people ordinarily would and then so that's why when you see women who are entrepreneurs It starts to raise their head become surprising because these are people that coming from even man had to jump ten times A woman probably has to jump 25 times to just prove that this is me doing my thing It's not that some man is and piggybacking on some man or you know, somebody somewhere is bankrolling me so So but let's just talk about you know the business environment We already know that the argument has been put off that government should provide an enabling environment and then private sector should fly and Of course as a woman you don't exist in space. You exist in the same, you know Environment where government exists. So has it been for you or pre-taining in this space where Government is providing the environment has it been. I like you to show your experience with us first-hand. Wow There's some kind of languages. I don't use otherwise. I will say it's been hell. No, that's fine That's for me at my personal convictions, okay, you know because like I said especially for those of us in hospitality We are all feeling the bites. I mean how I started my business last year Basically, even though I had a lot of I've been very aggressive with my markets and things like that I just had a meal last year by time I started diesel was about 240 per liter You know and because my guest houses are located in leki a lot of all those areas have better light supply Better power supply. So we were guaranteed 11 to 12 hours of power supply per day. So that was fine. I could plan Now as I yesterday I bought diesel at 575 naira per liter I'm also like if I get three hours, I jump up So the the the quantity of diesel I used to use in a location for one month. I now use for three to four days Seriously terrible. So so apart from that particular challenge that you have mentioned now. What are the issues? I mean security is also part of providing enabling Taxes yeah, and all of that. So what I always tell people when you're getting into business don't go Half go to full routes. So find out what are your compliance needs? What are your regulatory needs? Who do you need to pay taxes to? What body do you need to belong to? You know that will help you ahead of time so that government is not descending on you with penalties When they are coming if your if your people if your books are already in place You already know before time that this is what I'm supposed to file This is what I'm supposed to do and this is what I'm supposed to do that goes a long way now in terms of security It's a nationwide problem and is a function of the society that we now live in So it's even it's true that our sector has also been greatly affected because people now go to hotels to commit all kinds of atrocities So the advice I usually give people is make sure you have cameras in place and be very familiar with the police stations Oh police divisions around the place you do business very important So that's when you have the numbers of the respective law officers or your law enforcement officers on ground It's easy for you to reach out to them when you have problems not It won't be nice for them to just get to know you on the day you have problems interesting you talked about you know the The bias in society because we're talking about breaking the bars as we celebrate the 22 events today and The the view by some people out there in this country the women shouldn't be out there And you know and women are often misunderstood someone sees a woman driving a brand new car Oh, she must have slept with a man to get that that's the first thing that comes to mind No, that she worked hard to get it. You are an industry in the tourism and hospitality sector that raises eyebrows And I know you're not the only woman in that sector You have other colleagues that probably will shadow some time to time and what what are the different? What are the challenges unique to that industry that women face? It's a stigma. Is there misunderstanding misconceptions and how do you deal with that? Maybe if there's some ladies listen, they go on to get to love in this little So I think a whole lot goes into the way you comfort yourself when you go into such business That's because it's one thing that you're a woman and then you're in hospitality and putting yourself out there So there's an impression thing to deal with because people don't know your purpose Whether you set it up to do some kind of illicit activities with women who knows, you know, or whether you're Fronting for some people would jump to that immediately people immediately easily jump to that So it depends on the way you run your business and the way you also comfort yourself because That that goes a long way because when your customers see you they shouldn't see They should see somebody who means serious business Not somebody who's just there because this is a business to do So it goes a long way in taking care of the stigma and the impressions that people have So but let's take a quick look at the theme for this year's celebration. It talks about gender equality Today for a sustainable tomorrow. Would you say that this is a gender bias? Yes, in the end and you know and the business sector you an entrepreneur is they gender bias Is it that government just the CBN would say we're giving funds to the men and don't give to the women The gender bias in you know in fairness is that a lot of people are trying to look at women Holistically, but then you still have those biases that are entrenched in the society that are very hot To dispense with as recently as yesterday There was a story back in the rounds immediately dropped her three months old in a crutch and Unfortunately, the baby died, you know, God rest the baby. So big but nobody at that time Nobody had an explanation for what the why the baby died, but everybody descended on the woman Why would you drop you three months old in a crutch? Why any woman for people who say should be prosecuted and jailed For negligence and you're not thinking what if this woman is a breadwinner in her family? What if she has to go to work because she's providing for everybody else? You know, why did he have to be nobody even mention of the father? Nobody said where was the father or anything? Everybody blamed it on the woman like the woman had no business leaving her baby You know forgetting that she also had to have our own source of livelihood So it's even though the government holistically may be doing their business a whole lot to be done to our psyche Okay, so because I'm I'm trying that we establish this fact that we don't have any gender disparity in terms of government policies as regards And top remorse so you have a set of persons who were treated as gentlemen and you know The others treated like you know second-class citizens and what have you but you have also stated Categorically here that it has nothing to do with government policies So you're saying that the Nigerian government police is not biased. That's what you're saying. I will say it's not biased But you just have a psyche and a cultural exactly Exactly, so it's a size. It's a cultural bias It's more in our psyche than because I mean it's human beings that right even though. Yes I know that there has been some clamor in the past in the north about you know age of marriage and things like that and You know, that's that has done it up and the conversations are still ongoing well in terms of You know policies for women entrepreneurs I will say that society is waking up The only thing is it now takes a lot to be able to harness those opportunities For instance when banks do these things they were expected to have a business plan and all that and all that and not Not many women are savvy enough or or he said enough to be able to do all these things for themselves So it's an ongoing thing. It's automatic because your woman they should be given to you have to also have a business plan Exactly, but but but but and How how let's talk about the difficulty In in you in the privacy you run your own business. Yes There's some other women who are also successful in the private sector but working corporations and companies And we keep hearing about the glass ceiling being shattered and This glass ceiling the best clean me for those who listen means, you know We may not be able to ascend to the boardrooms to the highest or higher positions in companies Do you think it's because of the view that women may not be stable enough? You know to to handle the leading positions because we're gonna talk about politics as well Some people have this view and what have you noticed in that space of the boardroom? So in a corporate sector incidentally you're talking to an expert because I worked for 16 years I'm a lawyer by training. So I worked a lot with corporate organizations I had a legal organizations of a legal department of you know, some quoted companies before I eventually only resigned last year To face my business. So Then there's this because of the impression that a lot of people have in the workplace about women If the men were supposed to walk to a jump 12 feet, you will jump 16 feet To get to that and show that you'll jump in that way You know, I have had to I've had to go to work when I was in labor before I talk about it You know when I had my second baby The only thing is that because I had some experience. I knew the risk I was taking I had been I had been diagnosed I knew that was almost dilating about six centimeters I knew that would take me like six or seven hours before I would give birth and I said, you know what? Because at that time I had just been made acting head of department. I was made acting head of department when I was seven months pregnant So I had to prove myself to show that I could do the job even though I was heavy and I was going to give birth So this is me instead of relaxing and being in the labor room and waiting for the baby I just got in my car the driver said, you know what? Let me go unpack my things in the office Put in my maternity leave be able to copy my folder so that I can't work from home and That pregnancy throughout when I gave birth trust me. I was working from home So what policy shifts and changes need to be put in place? You know, is it just a perception mindset and culture thing or can can policy? You know changes or new policies help? policies Policies were written by human beings and will be implemented by human beings. So you can write the most beautiful Thing or paper and say this should be this this should be this But in reality, I know about women who gets laid off during their maternity leave They will and it will not be written because you've been on maternity leave We're laying you off. They will just find the reason but the reason being You've not been at this job for like two months and we can't keep waiting. They'll just get a replacement that I tell you anything You know, so you now have that You have to keep proving yourself every step of the way like what I did. Nobody told me to do it But I knew that it was one of the things I had to do to show that I was equal to the tax But come to think of it. That was risky. Very risky. Very risky. So, um, so it just brings us to the fact I mean kofi and I also hope you'll remember you've been following the story. You remember that recently There was a bill seeking that create additional 111 seats, especially for women You know are the you know center of lawmaking and what have you and The reason that was rejected was because it was rejected and some people say oh, that it's been rejected But it seemed to be aligning with some of the thoughts that I have that It's more of a cultural thing. So you can have Why do we have to create an additional seat because naturally people have not come to accept the fact that you have to allow women Just so with the 439 seats or what have you and so we have to now have to create like a special seat because they cannot You know be allowed to come into that space So I definitely understand that we have to address this issue of gender bias You know via culture Breaking all of those cultural beliefs and what have you and all of the sentiments that we hold But moving forward on a day like this How do you think that you know women can break even what can women do? Especially in your field where you're an entrepreneur and mostly a lot of people are tilting towards that direction Yeah, I will say for women nobody is going to hand you anything on a platter So seize the opportunities that you see Be very serious with your school in which education because for me knowledge and education is everything If the guys are reading eight hours to 12 hours You will find the need for that in future because That that will be the weapon that you will have when you're when you're faced with all the The the biases that you see that will determine whether you will be financially independent Or whether you will be dependent on someone. I know that not everybody has this privilege Of you know a lot of people due to circumstances beyond their control family background and things It's not very easy to find a woman who will be educated to the fullest But it's something that for those who have the opportunity, please use it and use it well Because for me that would be your defense when But you but you also Want to agree? I mean just as we're talking we talked about the fact that there are some people in You know the northern part of Nigeria For instance as a woman you want to get into the business of leisure Your kind of business and where you would have you know selling beverages alcohol beverages and what have you And we already understand, you know the position Um, you know of the culture and the law surrounding that practice as a matter of fact We hear that bottles of beers have been destroyed constantly. So how can women thrive in this, you know in in this environment? Unfortunately, I don't have any answer Yeah But but but I also before we go because we're out of table Do you think because I've I've discovered this in some, you know fora that some of the ladies even don't feel They are good enough or they should be in front, you know mercy Isn't enough In church in youth, is that true is a cultural thing? Yes What do you say to the ladies? Yes, because I've had people that you know all those days when I was in school And people like you're too intense If you if you keep on like this, how you do that? Yeah, how are you going to get married? You know when everything is book book book book, but it's not like I got married Because I got married to a fellow lawyer But you know, we had a whole lot of us even while We were in school that he kept telling us make sure you get married before you go to law school because if you come out I've outside law school. No one is going to marry you buy a car You have to so you someone will buy if I wanted to buy my own car That was a debate in my family because I was still single at the time. You don't Are you kidding now? No, I'm not it was a debate listening Incidentally then I was still dating my husband. So what I had to do was I had to make an excuse No, I had to bring him to help me make a choice Make a choice with the cab but it was you who was getting the car Not that he had to convince them that he was getting the car for you. No, no, no, no He just helps me to make a choice So ladies out there should also not be afraid to be successful Exactly And the guys out there should not be afraid of which women who are successful Yeah, they always feel that once a woman is successful you become rude and nasty and bitchy But that's not the word Sorry, sorry for my language But a well-trained woman is a well-trained woman. It doesn't matter whether she has money or not And a polytrained one no matter a polytrained one no matter how rich or poor she is Will remain so so he has nothing to do with thank you very much. We appreciate your time Olo Mokoro Thank you He's a lawyer and a hotelier. She's the CEO of Loomsey suits. We'll take you out online. You're lucky. Thank you very much Thank you very much. We'll come and box for some coffee. Please go ahead. That'll be nice All right, we have some more as we're still celebrating international women's day right here on the breakfast Stay with us. We'll be right back