The Nestoil Group has called for an end to gender bias, as it said women should be celebrated for their feats and not their gender.

The group at its 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD) webinar with the global theme, ‘’#ChooseToChallenge’’ seeks for a balanced society where roles should be assigned on performance ethos and not restricted to women based on societal bias.

This as the two guest speakers at the event urged women to continuously challenge and self-develop themselves if they are to be taken seriously by society as they agreed that a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change.

Charlotte Essiet, the Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, AOS Orwell, who spoke on the sub-theme, ‘’Self Development: A Panacea for Progression of Female Professionals’’, said women will do more for themselves if they focus on themselves by being intentional, accountable and paying more attention to their environment.

Essiet said women must always look for ways to self-improve by investing in their personal development through getting the required education, getting a mentor, and sticking to what the mentor is meant for. She also urged women to know how to manage their time effectively, especially as they juggle between family and having a great career.

Temitope Yusuff, an Associate Director and a leader of the oil and industry group at PwC Nigeria who spoke on the topic, ‘Choose to Challenge’, said gender equality is a big issue in the country and the country has a lot to gain if women are accorded their due rights.

She said with 40 percent of Nigerian entrepreneurs being women, the highest ratio globally, the country’s GDP, according to a McKinsey report, could grow by 23 percent or $229bn if women participated in the economy to the same extent as men.

She said COVID-19 has further exacerbated the bias as ‘’The impact of COVID-19 on gender parity in the workplace is disproportionately hurting sectors with more female employment and amplifying gender inequalities. It has also worsened the already unequal burden of unpaid care and domestic work shouldered by women that could force more women out of the workforce, reversing progress towards gender equality and stunting economic growth.’’

Yusuff said a survey of women working in corporate jobs showed that women are considering permanently reducing the amount of time they allocate to their careers or leaving the labor market for good after COVID-19.

On how women can challenge themselves, she wants them to have their own definition of success, express their choices, sharpen their skills to earn respect, challenge self-imposed constraints, and to avoid the fear of being judged and seeking constant approvals.