Funmi Ogundare
A transformational speaker, author and strategist, Ezinne Kufre-Ekanem, has called on women to take responsibility for their lives and translate their purpose, ideas and influence into tangible action.
She made the call at the 2026 UPYOUWOMEN two-day conference, themed: ‘Aligned: Positioned for Purpose and Impact’, in Lagos weekend, where she urged participants to move beyond inspiration and make concrete decisions that would advance their personal, professional and family lives.
She stated that the essence of the conference was to inspire women to leave with clarity about who they were, what they carried and what they intended to do with their abilities.
According to her, “I want a woman to leave the room and say, ‘I am no longer waiting for permission. I am no longer postponing my life. I know who I am. I know what I carry, and I am going to do something with it’.”
Kufre-Ekanem, who is also the convener, said alignment was not about becoming someone else but about becoming more fully the person one was created and intended to be, adding that achieving this required courage to speak, make difficult decisions, forgive, heal and take responsibility.
“Alignment is about becoming more fully who you dare to intend to be. And sometimes that requires courage, the courage to speak, the courage to use, the courage to make different decisions, the courage to walk away from what no longer serves you, the courage to forgive, the courage to heal, and the courage to say, ‘This is my life and I will take responsibility for what I do with it’,” she stated.
She also stressed the importance of community and collaboration among women, noting that women needed alliances and supportive networks to move forward.
She noted that the conference exposed participants to discussions around voice, personal branding, family, execution, music and creativity, among other issues affecting women’s personal development and impact.
She further connected the conference to the ‘Project Empower 1100’, describing it as an initiative that reflected the importance of using knowledge, influence and success to create opportunities for others.
“If we have blessed knowledge, we should be able to share it. If we have living influence, we should use it. If we have success, we should create opportunities. If we have survived something, perhaps somebody else can survive because we choose to tell our story. That is impact,” she said.
The strategist added that the difference between a woman’s dream and its realisation might not require another seminar, but could begin with a single position, conversation, phone call, application, business idea, difficult boundary or first step.
In her remarks, the Chairperson, Board of Trustees of Women in Business (WINBIZ), Ebisan Akisanya, urged women to embrace authenticity and ensure that their values, choices and actions are aligned with their purpose to achieve meaningful impact.
She stressed that women should not allow societal expectations or the need to make others comfortable to drown out their own voices.
According to her, women often develop the ability to ‘read the room’ and adjust their behaviour to suit others, but warned that the skill could become counterproductive when it prevents them from listening to themselves.
“Women know this particularly well. We learn to read the room. We know when to speak, when to soften, when to make somebody else comfortable. It’s a wonderful skill, but there’s a danger when we become so good at reading the room that we can no longer hear ourselves,” she said.
Akisanya explained that alignment did not mean having every aspect of one’s life perfectly figured out, but rather having the courage to recognise when one’s values and choices were pulling in different directions and taking steps to address the disconnect.
The WINBIZ chaitperson expressed hope that the conversations at the conference would extend beyond the event and influence the choices participants made, the questions they asked themselves, the women they supported and the causes to which they committed their lives.
The fourth edition of the conference brought together speakers including the Chief Executive Officer, Society Corporate Governance Nigeria, Obinna Onunkwo; Director, LePoshe School, Ronke Adeniyi; Founder, Julia Jacks Consulting, Julia Oku Jacks; and culinary expert and founder, IQ Food Platter, Iquo Ukoh, among others, to discuss purpose, identity, leadership, influence, creativity, family, personal development, as well as building financial capacity for generational impact.
A Family Life Coach and Counsellor, Dr. Nike Folagbade, who spoke on ‘Aligned to Heal’, stressed the need for women to prioritise healing, self-awareness and inner alignment, warning that unresolved emotional patterns can keep them trapped in unhealthy relationships, habits and missed opportunities.
She noted that failure to confront unresolved issues often comes with significant personal costs, including repeated relationship patterns, abandoned aspirations and years spent in cycles that prevent growth.
According to Folagbade, healing involves bringing one’s internal world into agreement with the truth, including thoughts, emotions, choices, habits, relationships, identity, values and spiritual life.
She said women needed to examine the consequences of refusing to do the necessary inner work, particularly where unresolved issues affected their relationships and personal development.
“When you don’t heal, there is a cost. There is a cost of waiting until five years’ time, and then you look back and say, ‘I have still not moved’. The opportunities are gone. Relationships are mixed,” she said.
Folagbade challenged participants to examine the patterns that might be holding them back, asking them to identify relationships affected by their behaviour, opportunities they had avoided, habits that kept them stuck and aspects of themselves they might have abandoned.