Dr. Victoria Ekhomu is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Transworld Security, a foremost asset protection company. In this interview with VICTORIA OJUGBANA, she speaks on her experience in the security industry, what stands her out in the profession and the need for more women to venture into the sector among other salient issues. Excerpts:
You were the first Nigerian woman to be appointed to the awards committee of ASIS International. How did that make you feel?
I am the first person and still the only person from this region in ASIS to have served till date in the awards committee of ASIS.
I do feel honored about it, as we were in charge of meeting to review and give various categories of awards to deserving members. I was the only black on the awards committee, when I served several years ago.
What has been your major achievement?
My journey in the male-dominated security industry has been quite interesting and inspiring.
Some of my major achievements have been my ability to become a Chairman of ASIS Nigeria Chapter 206, despite the initial opposition from members that I was a woman, after having served the Chapter in several capacities exceptionally, where I even had won an award from the chapter as ‘The Most Valuable Member Award’.
Secondly, it was impactful for me to be the first female to attain the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) in Africa, for which I received a Goldstar Award from ASIS International, Lagos Chapter 206.
I was appointed the first Senior Regional Vice -President from Region 11b, appointed the first African Advisory Council Chairman to preside over Africa. I was the first to serve as a member of the ASIS Foundation Board of Trustees for Region 11b for a six years tenure which lapsed this December, 2023.
The ASIS Women in Security worldwide recognised me by giving me the Karen Marquez Award for Excellence in 2015.
This recognises women who have performed consistently well over an extended period of, Lifetime Achievement Award by ASIS Region 11b & Chapter 206.
To crown it all was the Lifetime Achievement Award which I won from Outstanding Security Performance Award (OSPAS) as the MD /CEO; I was delighted to be able to get my company Transworld Security to win the OSPAS award for Contract Guard Award for 2023.
Also, in 2023, as the President of School of Management and Security, we won the OSPAS award for the best Training Initiative in 2023. Transworld also won the Most Trusted Security Services Company Award 2023 by International Standard Excellence Awards.
In Nigeria, the security threat is rising on a daily basis, what roles should women play in peace building?
In Nigeria, the security threats are growing at an alarming rate, since President Buhari governed Nigeria.
With our new President, Tinubu, and the huge rise in inflation and all the prices of goods, which have resulted with the oil subsidy removal and the collapsing of the foreign exchange, Nigeria is in dire straits and there is frustrations and uncertainty.
I learnt there was some demonstration in some parts of the North against the rising cost of goods and services. In peace building, women should play the role of mediators. They can be teachers in schools and our community. Women who cater for their children can also help nurture their children to be of good behavior. Women can be ambassadors.
There seem to be so many challenges with women in leadership positions. What do you think is responsible for this?
It should be noted that for several years, women had not been in leadership positions. Men have dominated the leadership positions and they have had their challenges.
It is only recently that women have begun to occupy the leadership positions, so there is a learning curve, which is there, so they are still very few and are learning.
The women don’t have the support system, like the boys club which men have to support them. In some cases, some of the women in leadership positions, might not have the right preparation, integrity , moral standing and discipline and might have come through unscrupulous means to attain the leadership position , at times to represent an interest or sponsored, without the right credentials for the job.
So, if the women are those who either got their education or the position through unscrupulous means, they will exhibit the same incompetence or lack of integrity on the job.
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My advice is that women should endeavor to get the right education, foundations, preparations, discipline, experience and training; so that they can excel in any leadership position they are given.
Is there anything we should do differently in relation to the cultural factors inhibiting women?
Nigeria is a country with diverse ethnic groups, having cultural practices affecting both men and women differently.
Most women are culturally restricted to engage in certain businesses.
Women are not expected to be in male dominated industries, like security. Most people might not feel comfortable having women as their guards, though women are quite observant and perceptive and are good at profiling. I recall having to make presentations for security and work with my male managers, to be sensitive to some people’s biases.
What is being done differently is that more women are performing guard jobs. More women are getting into the security profession and performing various security functions.
More women are getting security certifications. So, women have to be encouraged to enter the security profession; as there are different fields in the security profession that they can practice.
To be successful in anything a woman does, what are the key traits she should have?
The key traits for a woman to be successful are: intelligence, integrity, honesty, confidence, empathy, emotional intelligence, hard work, studious, caring, kind, loving, and leadership qualities and being knowledgeable.
Do you still have any more goals you would like to achieve?
Yes, I have more goals I want to achieve. I want to focus my energies which I have utilized for volunteering in the security associations in building the companies left in my care to world class standards, so that my children can easily manage them from anywhere with the right management structures and personnel in place.
In 2023, my companies got international and local recognition and we got various awards for both Transworld Security and School of Management and Security.
We shall leverage and harness that to increase our capacity and capability. We shall strengthen our branding capabilities.
Transworld Security started as a systems company, so we shall leverage that capability and increase our visibility in emerging technologies such as Electronic security, Cyber-security, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), Fire Alarms, and Access Control Systems.
We are expanding our journey management and secured transportation, security training, background investigations, certificate verification, security audits, executive protection, security consulting and so on.
How does it feel to work in a male dominated field?
It has not been an easy journey as a pioneer woman in the security industry. I have to continuously prove myself, get all the right security certifications, study the security trends and be very knowledgeable about the security solutions and security technologies available to proffer to my clients.
Security business is truly a male-dominated business.
I recall in the 1980s in the U.S when I called security manufacturers and security distributors; they found it unfamiliar that I was calling them, since I was a woman. As such they noted my name very fast, so that whenever I called, they immediately called me by my name. When I attended Security events with my husband, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, both in the U.S and in Nigeria, I was the only female in the top category in Nigeria, while in the U.S; I was one of the very few women in the security industry in attendance.
As a woman in the industry, especially in Nigeria, most people just considered me a beautiful wife without skills working for my husband.
Meanwhile, my husband, knowing the skills I possessed, made me his Managing Director. He gave me the responsibility of marketing, customer service and operations. To market our products, I had to stay on top of new security trends and new security technologies to solve the various security challenges and vulnerabilities.
With a dint of handwork, and my achievements in my various volunteer roles in the ASIS International, the highest Security Association worldwide, with over 38,000 members, I have become recognised and respected in the security industry worldwide and in Nigeria.
