The Nigerian billionaire and UBA chairman, Tony Onyemachi Elumelu, once shared with Dr Reuben Abati of Arise TV that his first daughter, Oge, is his successor and the heiress that will take over his global empire once he retires, and he is grooming her for that responsibility.
Today, Oge, who is studying economics at the London School of Economics, accompanied her dad to Brussels for the European Development Day session where he spoke on “Sustainable Finance at the Heart of Global Gateway.”
In the words of Tony, “Oge was my chief of staff today,” keeping to the words that he told Dr. Reuben.
I’m aware that Oge also joins her dad in his Lagos office when she is vacationing in Nigeria, where she interns and watches her dad make super moves, the TOE way.
Tony is making a profound statement with what he is doing with his daughter.
Tony has two twin boys who are younger, but for him, Oge, the first, is the chosen one.
Her gender does not matter.
It does not matter that she will get married some day.
What matters is that she is capable of carrying on with her dad’s legacy and impact when Tony hangs the boot.
Tony Elumelu, with his examples, is reminding all of us that the girl child is enough, just like the male child. No gender is superior and, most importantly, this is how we can break and shatter the bias, the glass ceiling,holding our women down as a society.
