The First Lady was speaking at of the Republic of Sierra Leone on 26th June, 2019 while honoring the invitation from Initiative for Creative Women to give a motivational speech at an event held at Radison Blu Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown.
This organization is set towards empowering and encouraging women in the country to make themselves relevant in society.
In her outstanding presentation, Fatima Bio stated that being determined helps one go a long way in life. She said the women’s initiative is a welcome one and that she is pleased with the organizers.
“We want to make sure that women occupy top offices and be decision-makers. We can only achieve this if we speak with one loud voice,” the First Lady said. She added that women who have opened initiatives to advocate for their fellow women should not relent even if they face challenges along the way.
“Don’t limit your dream, dream big and don’t allow anyone to kill your dream,” Madam Bio admonished her audience, adding that when women allow people to be controlling them “that’s where their dreams start to die.” She said women should be able to detect what is right for them at all time.
She went on to state that if women really want to stop the way people think about themselves they must first change the way they think about themselves. “When you start to see positivity in yourself, people would see it too in you.”
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Executive Director of Initiative for Creative Women, Binta Bah said they want to be an agent of change in their various communities. She added that their investment in transformational leadership is to inspire and equip the next generation of young women leaders in the country.
“The building blocks of this organization consist of identifying Sierra Leoneans most promising emerging women leaders, enhancing their capacities and feasibilities through training, mentoring, media exposure, networking and facilitating their access to opportunities to serve humanity,” she said. She also stated that in Sierra Leone, young women are faced with several challenges while trying to exhibit their talents and little or no effort is being made to encourage these young ladies to showcase their talents.
Other motivational speakers at the event included Mrs. Fatu Yumkella, Managing Director of Danam Development Consultants who said women are equal in society depending on how they treat themselves, adding that women have opportunities for making the world a better place with business ideas, creativity etc.
