So here we are finally! We have come to the end of another year and with it the culmination of a unique and transformational learning process for this year’s WISCAR mentees. A process that with each succeeding year has continued to evolve and expand in terms of range, capacity and impact. The WIN with WISCAR mentoring programme has truly come of age. It is now a well-established programme, successfully tried and tested and efficiently delivered year after year. Despite this, we at WISCAR have not rested on our laurels. Each successive year of operation we have continued to add to the value and effectiveness of the programme. Our collaboration with the HBC (Habiba Balogun Consulting) lecture series has been a tremendous success and it has given a massive quantitative and qualitative boost to WISCAR. With this kind of partnership, the capacity of the programme to effect development and transform talent is immeasurable and we are grateful for the selfless support given by so many of our key supporters and collaborators. The quality and commitment of speakers and facilitators for the various programmes is exceptional. We at WISCAR fully intend to maintain and build on those very high standards.
Having said this, the young ladies graduating here today will agree with me when I state that the WIN-with-WISCAR programme is a tasking one. It encompasses several innovative feature including: Multiple engagements with exquisitely matched mentors; Comprehensive and well analyzed book reviews; Thought provoking professional seminars; and Multiple interactions with celebrated women in professional careers.
This last feature is exceedingly important. A well-worn aphorism has it that Example is better than precept. The examples of established WISCARs have lifted us this year beyond all measure. It is for this reason that, on the 13th of October 2012, we honoured and celebrated with our distinguished Patron, Honourable Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar on her appointment as the 15th Chief Justice of the Federation of Nigeria; the 1st woman to hold that exalted position. We will continue to celebrate this stellar achievement of Justice Aloma Mukhtar and we know that she will remain a role model not only to our Mentees but indeed to all women in professional careers in Nigeria. The celebration was a tremendous success and a major milestone for WISCAR and all members of the WISCAR family.
To our 2012 Mentees, I congratulate you on your completion of our tasking programme. I hope that you have not only imbibed the professional and life defining lessons offered by our programme but that you have also made friends with your Mentors, your fellow Mentees and the WISCARs you have met. I challenge you to put into practice all that you have learnt during the course of this programme. I urge you to build on the solid foundation laid by your participation in the WISCAR programme over the last 12 months. The lessons of WISCAR, in summary, are the lessons of life. I therefore urge you to strive for excellence always, for diligence always, for competence always, for integrity always and for kindness always. Those lessons will serve to lift you, enhance you and give your careers more efficacy and effectiveness. All of us at WISCAR constitute one family, a family of ideas and a family that stands together for progress. We will always step up to support each other in the promotion and nurturing of effective careers and lives. Indeed our careers are part of our lives and so our careers and lives are inextricably linked.
To our hardworking and selfless Mentors I say thank you for your unstinting and giving spirit. Without you the remarkable young ladies who constitute the WISCAR Mentees of 2012 could not have navigated the course so well. They have all come a long way. Thank you for bringing them close to you, for watching over them and helping to guide their steps along that way.
I implore all our Mentors and Mentees to retain and strengthen the links they have forged this year. Those networks offer a wonderful channel for mutual support and encouragement. Let us all make the most of what we are and what we have so that we can give our best to our beloved country Nigeria. Remember always that as our motto says we are developing women to build a better nation.
Finally, I welcome the incoming Mentees. I congratulate each and every one of you on scaling through our very rigorous selection process and on your success in becoming WISCAR Mentees. The programme we have prepared for you is even more challenging than before and I believe the rewards will be even greater. I exhort you to take full advantage of the programme. It will transform your careers and could define your progress in the years to come.
Let me finish by reminding you all that the seeds of your success lie firmly in your hands. The ability to triumph always begins with you. Seize this day. Be strong. Be confident. Be skilful. Be you!
Amina Oyagbola.
