Former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has called on Nigerian elites to leverage their influence for broader societal impact and to champion sustainable business practices.
Speaking at the 23rd Annual WIMBIZ Conference themed “Dream, Dare, Do,” Osinbajo commended the organization’s “resilience and relevance” over the years, noting its capacity to effect meaningful change.
Celebrating WIMBIZ’s legacy of empowering women in leadership, Osinbajo emphasized the elite’s responsibility to advocate for those disadvantaged in society. “The elite must be the interlocutors and mediators for these people,” he said, urging members to use their collective voice to push for social welfare, healthcare, and education reforms, especially to address issues like high female illiteracy in northern Nigeria.
Osinbajo noted some qualities of successful businesses, adding that, there is need for deep market research, resilience, and delayed gratification. Drawing on examples of failed ventures, he argued that a lack of adaptability and foresight can often lead to business collapse. He warned that a fixation on maintaining appearances can derail progress, advising entrepreneurs to invest resources into growth over luxury.
As a final point, Osinbajo underscored the transformative potential of technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI), in reshaping industries. He encouraged WIMBIZ members to be proactive in harnessing AI’s capabilities, as its role in fields from law to medicine rapidly evolves. Osinbajo concluded with a challenge for WIMBIZ to amplify its policy influence by producing annual reports on business conditions affecting women and SMEs.
With over two decades of promoting women’s leadership, WIMBIZ’s 23rd conference highlighted the ongoing need for collective action, responsible leadership, and adaptability in a dynamic Nigerian business landscape.
“The theme of the conference, Dream Dare Do, is both perceptive and provocative. In my view, it throws up to two different challenges, one to Wimbiz as an organization and the other to individual members of the organization and indeed the rest of us. Regarding the challenge to the organization, let me begin by saying that the founders of Wimbiz deserve to be extremely proud of what the organization has become over the years.
“A strong, well respected body of the business, professional and public service elite in our country. And many years of offering peer influence opportunities, sound, high quality mentorship, and capacity building programs especially for women in leadership roles.
“Many years after its founding, seated in this room are possibly some of the most consequential human beings of Nigerian extraction, whether male or female. Persons able to reach practically anyone in this nation either individually or collectively with one or two phone calls. And as an organization, certainly capable of influencing political or economic outcomes if you put your mind to it. Such is the power, the prestige and the reach of this organization unassuming as it may appear. Indeed I am here because I was left with no choice…I got a few phone calls from some friends here, including my wife’s closest friend, and when I expressed a slight reluctance my dear wife had that: “Don’t even try” look on her face.
Osinbajo added, “So I simply knew that my life would not be worth much if I declined this invitation. But quite seriously there is much influence packed into this organization. But I make this point to buttress my respectful view that an elite organization such as yours bears the huge responsibility that comes with the with the privilege of belonging to the elite, especially in a society where a huge number are disadvantaged and voiceless.
“As you know, an elite is defined by virtue of the position of influence, education, professional or business success that the individual or group may have in contrast to the rest of the population. A society or nation rises or falls by the sense of responsibility of its elite (political, business and religious elite). And anywhere in the world, it is this class that determines the economic, moral and even the political direction of their societies or nations. What they hold dear is what the society considers important, what they disavow is rejected by society, they are the opinion moulders and shapers in society.
“What they prioritize becomes the priority even of governments, most of who come from the elite anyway. Let me take a banal example, the question of airfares local or international, is of importance to many of us in this room, the cost of school fees for children abroad, the cost of medicals abroad, now the cost of fueling more than one SUV, and possibly also visas to Dubai. Now these are important to us, and in our interactions with those who can make a difference, these are some of the issues we raise and hope will be addressed but the other 99.9% of two hundred million of us are more concerned with matters of survival, cost of public transportation, food, basic healthcare, accommodation, access to justice.
“My point is that the elite must be the interlocutors and mediators for these people. Alongside our own concerns, we must fight for the social welfare schemes, the healthcare schemes, the food security issues, school feeding programmes for children in public schools, because these are matters that politicians are required to address but often do not, and they do not have an elite to put them under pressure. Your collective voice and action for education of girls in the north carried to the State houses can affect the destiny of our nation. Today we have over 67% female illiteracy in the North. A country with half of its population socially and economically disempowered by illiteracy will find development difficult, if not intractable. We are proud of the social causes you have championed. But much more needs to be done. We must find ways of making change at scale because of the enormity of the problems we face.”
