MTN Nigeria’s top executives have challenged institutions across the public and private sectors to move beyond rhetoric and make concrete sacrifices to advance women into leadership positions, using the company’s International Women’s Day commemoration as a platform to model the very principles they espouse.
The call came during MTN’s Women @ Y’ello (W@Y) event in Ikoyi, held under the theme “Give to Gain: Advancing Rights, Justice and Action for All Women and Girls.” The gathering also celebrated 14-year-old Oreoluwa Alayande, winner of the 2025 MTN mPulse Spelling Bee, who assumed the symbolic role of MTN CEO for a day, a gesture intended to inspire young girls to envision themselves in corporate leadership.
But speakers at the event were emphatic that symbolism alone would not move the needle.
“If we are advancing the women’s cause, we must make sacrifices for it,” said Dr. Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria.
He stressed that organisations must intentionally prioritise women in leadership development and recruitment, describing gender balance across all leadership levels as a deliberate corporate objective rather than an aspirational afterthought.
Delivering the keynote address, Eyitope Kola-Oyeneyin, Independent Non-Executive Director at MTN Nigeria, offered a nuanced perspective on mentorship, arguing that its most potent forms often emerge outside structured programmes.
Drawing on her own career trajectory, Kola-Oyeneyin revealed that many of her most formative lessons came not from formal mentors but from observing senior women whose actions she admired from a distance.
She encouraged young women to embrace “learning from afar,” listening, watching and applying insights from those who have navigated the path ahead.
“A lot of things are often caught and not taught,” she said, adding that “By supporting someone or simply being around them, you can learn so much.”
She also issued a challenge to experienced women in leadership to share their stories at every opportunity.
Lynda Saint-Nwafor, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, widened the lens, arguing that empowering women creates ripple effects across society.
She called for sustained corporate initiatives that support women at every career stage and across all industries, rejecting the notion that women’s advancement is a zero-sum game.
“Give to gain,” she said, echoing the event theme, arguing that “When we invest in women, the returns are not limited to the individuals, they flow to families, communities and the broader economy.”
Esther Akinnukawe, Chief Human Resources Officer at MTN Nigeria, urged attendees to view empowerment as a continuous journey rather than a one-off activity confined to International Women’s Day.
“It is not just about today’s conversation,” she said, stressing that “It is about continuing the discussion and the journey of inclusion in the organisation. Ask yourself, what can I give today that helps another woman or another person rise tomorrow? When you answer that question, you are truly giving to gain.”
The presence of 14-year-old Oreoluwa Alayande, bright-eyed, articulate and visibly absorbing the conversations around her, served as a living embodiment of the intergenerational transmission of ambition that speakers sought to champion.
