General
At Jumia, Every Opinion Counts Irrespective of Gender—Ajagunna
Adejoju Ajagunna is the Head of Customer Service at Jumia Nigeria. In this interview, she spoke extensively on the challenges of working in the COVID-19 era, balancing the roles as a career woman and mother, and the equal opportunity for career growth at the e-commerce company. Excerpts:
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It means inspiration where I am inspired to dare and to do more. A day where every female gender irrespective of our profession or status is recognized globally, a day where it is important to celebrate the success and growth of every woman, one who has been able to conquer, who has been able to stand for her rights and explore the full potential of herself with no restriction to any obstacle.
We need to celebrate every gender called “WOMAN” as the world appreciates our hard work, resilience, struggles, wins and achievements, a day the world stands for “US” and reflects on the impact we have made in society. Officially a day that is devoted in celebration of all women but to me, every day is IWD because we create magic always
How has COVID-19 affected your role in Jumia since the pandemic started?
2020 has been the most challenging and daring of my 8 years in Jumia where opportunities were explored and we had to transition to a new normal by activating work from home in our attempt to ensure our consumers do not lack general essential and food supply due to restriction in the movement for most parts of the country.
In the beginning, it was a struggle supporting the team to suddenly change the dynamics of how we use to work by commencing remote working and adapting to the new tools.
Some of our team members were not sure if this was going to be possible or if we could achieve our number one goal of ‘winning the love of our customers in a pandemic where few of our processes had to be reviewed by ensuring all COVID-19 guidelines were adhered to.
The pandemic has brought about CHANGE where alternate channels of a new work-lifestyle are continuously being integrated without compromising the JUMIA standard. With all of these, I had to ensure we give time for the new learning curve, adequate support for onboarding and mastering of the new normal as we are the Jumia ambassadors
What are the challenges you’ve encountered in your career as a woman and how did you overcome it?
Well, most of my challenges came in my early stages of taking up a leadership role especially with managing the largest team where women are the largest team members, it was not easy managing the diversity of all types of human with the mindset that my processor was male as such it was expected that the role should be dominated by the male gender.
So, what I did was, I wore the shoes of the male gender and walked the walk by keeping the momentum and turning around the situation in taking up the mantle of leadership. It was also difficult to balance the curve of attaining a leadership role and being an awesome mum to my children especially when they were toddlers who could not understand why I could not be present for storytime in their schools and feel saddened by my unavailability but I have been able to create time at the homefront while I make it up to them in creating that schooling atmosphere at home by playing & learning which is moulding their values to create opportunities when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade out of it.
How will you say Jumia is contributing to the growth/development of female staff?
There are several ways Jumia contributes to the development of her female staff, one of such initiatives used in promoting gender equality in the provision of mentor programs which helps to guide us through any challenge in the course of our career without any gender exclusion.
We also have the opportunity of the women forum where we all come together to discuss business, obstacles, opportunities and work-life balance and honestly, it has been engaging and rewarding as you see staff from all levels relate and share learnings, I would say, it’s always a way to learn, relearn & unlearn.
What impact has gender equality made on your life and work?
Jumia is an organization that allows you to explore opportunities as long as you can earn them by hard work and a lot of positive push. One of our core values “You don’t need a title to a leader” allows equal rights amongst all which genuinely values your contribution and supports you to grow even as a woman.
Most of the C-levels in Jumia are women who in one way or the other have contributed to the immense growth of the business. Jumia has promoted equality as every opinion counts irrespective of your sex or level.
What female figure motivates you?
Actually, there are two particular female figures that inspire me: one is African while the other is American. The question for me is why these two women inspire me: they are women who have made good use of the opportunities around them with a powerful resilience not to stop but continue to ensure that their achievements continue to impact the lives of women especially the young & upcoming ones.
The first figure is Chimamanda Adichie who is a Nigerian, a writer of short stories & novels, I am stuck on one of her quotes ‘When there is true equality, resentment does not exist.’
My second female figure is Hilary Clinton; a politician. Both women are an inspiration to me because of their strong will and confidence level, I admire their courage in how they have done things differently.
What is the most important piece of advice you’d give to a woman thinking of starting her career?
There is so much pressure from the world out there where our young women are not sure of who they are or what they stand for, which sometimes makes them lose priority and focus.
However, my message to young women out there and generally to women “Be YOU…Be ENOUGH”: fuel your passion, making mistakes is allowed, it does not stop you from achieving your goals but in the end, you learn from it and this makes you a better woman. Make sure you work hard and have fun by celebrating your achievements and giving yourself a pat on the back.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Celebrated broadcaster with Arise TV, Mrs Ayo Mario-Ese, has charged women to be open to collaboration and not limit themselves.
The charming media personality was one of the panellists at the UBA Business Series themed Introducing Gen W – The Evolved Woman, held at the UBA House in Lagos last Thursday.
At the event moderated by popular actor, Mr Tobi Bakre, the Morning Show anchor on Arise TV expressed worry about females who are usually laidback about speaking up and sharing their achievements, and said that women need to own their stories.
“A lot of women are doing phenomenal work and are sometimes afraid of showcasing what they are doing. As an evolved woman, you have to find out what you are comfortable doing, create your own unique offering, and also be open to collaboration,” she submitted.
Another panellist, Ms Joycee Awosika, described an evolved woman as one who has awareness of who she is.
“That woman does not need to ask to sit at the table; she is creating her own table and adding value. As your company is growing, you must grow too, and always do an audit of where you need to become a better leader,” the energy economist stated.
For a digital entrepreneur, Ms Tomike Adeoye, the question of what a woman is bringing to the table has now become obsolete, as the evolved woman is now bringing their own table.
“She is now more vocal about their struggles, setting the standards, and she is not ready to give up on her dreams,” she declared.
For the founder of Fine-Funky, Ms Olufunke Davies, she remarked that, “Creating unique designs that are affordable remains my driving force and something that has helped me grow as an evolved woman.”
In her remarks, the Group Head for Brand, Marketing and Corporate Communications at UBA, Ms Alero Ladipo, said, “Raising each woman is actually not that hard, because everyone has their community as well as their story; and so as women, we need to take a position so that we can give to others.”
She said the Gen W platform of the lender is dedicated to the evolved woman, adding, “Through expert insights, real stories, and practical resources, the platform connects women who are building brands, creating businesses, growing careers, and leading across industries. They also have access to a plethora of discounted products and loans. The best part: it is open to every woman. No UBA account needed. This is Gen W, for the evolved woman.”
This edition of the UBA Business Series was hosted to mark International Women’s Month.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Navy has intensified its crackdown on crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, destroying a reactivated illegal refinery site in Rivers State and intercepting suspected stolen petroleum products in Calabar.
The Director of Naval Information, Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, revealing that personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH, operating under Operation Delta Sentinel, destroyed a reactivated illegal refinery site at Okolomade Community in Abua-Odual Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State.
He said the action followed credible intelligence that a previously dismantled illegal refining site had resumed operations.
According to him, an Anti–Crude Oil Theft (Anti-COT) team deployed to the location discovered that the dismantled refining oven had been reconstructed.
“Further exploitation of the area led to the discovery of additional refining equipment and storage facilities containing about 3,000 litres of product suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO),” he said.
Mr Folorunsho added that the illegal refining infrastructure—including ovens, storage tanks, hoses, connected pipes and newly acquired metal components used for illegal refining—was destroyed in line with operational procedures.
He said personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship Victory, in another operation, intercepted about 3,950 litres of suspected stolen petroleum products at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) area in Calabar, Cross River.
He said the interception was based on credible intelligence on suspected siphoning of petroleum products from vessels berthed at the port.
The naval patrol team, according to him, swiftly deployed to the area and traced the illegally siphoned products to a trailer park within the port facility.
“On sighting the naval patrol team, the suspected perpetrators fled the scene, after which the area was cordoned off and the illegally siphoned products secured,” he said.
The official said further inspection led to the recovery of about 3,950 litres of Automotive Gas Oil stored in drums and jerrycans, which had been evacuated to the naval base for further necessary action in line with extant regulations.
He noted that the successes aligned with the directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Idi Abbas, to intensify operations against crude oil theft and other maritime crimes across Nigeria’s maritime domain.
The captain reiterated the Navy’s commitment to sustaining the operational tempo of Operation Delta Sentinel through intensified surveillance, patrols and intelligence-driven operations aimed at combating crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other forms of economic sabotage.
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