Mrs. Comfort Eyitayo is on the Governing Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). A chartered accountant and member of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), she also thrives as an entrepreneur, with hands in ventures cutting across the hospitality and Information Technology industries. Now, through a couple of initiatives, she promotes women entrepreneurship, helping to groom a new generation of women business leaders and harnessing them into influential voices in the economy.IN this clime, it is not uncommon to find women who are wholly dependent on men for their livelihood and survival ' from young ladies supposedly bursting with zest, to married women and the widowed. And they do it not for lack of talent or ability to do things for themselves, but for the absence of the wherewithal, the initiative or simply because they want to conform to certain societal or family dictates. The implication for them is usually grave, as it leaves most of them economically disadvantaged and dependent.From her vantage position and as one neck-deep in business, the situation has over time become worrisome for Mrs Comfort Eyitayo. This is perhaps why she has over the years embarked on a number of drives to educate, develop capacities and most importantly, empower women with a view to helping them improve their lives. Her periodic talks on building enduring relationships and how to better people's life generally, continues to lead many out of despair, helping them take new shots at life.She believes that regardless of any situation they find themselves, women should be minimally dependent on their husbands and should never be laid back in being entrepreneurial; not even if they have super-rich husbands.For her, women should always think of self-actualisation in spite of the success of their men and see it as a duty to contribute to nation building, a duty in which they would fail if they continue being dependent.And to propagate these ideals, she has turned an evangelist, preaching the gospel of entrepreneurship. To further spread the gospel, she has long floated a journal called The Entrepreneur through which she writes and invites other people to write articles to 'encourage women who are yet on the fence to come out of their shells and do something.'The journal is a compendium of ideas people can work on and how they can overcome fears and start out as entrepreneurs. Interestingly, its acceptance and the results among the womenfolk have been heartwarming.In addition to the journal and her motivational talks, plans are also afoot for a programme that would birth a lot of what she calls 'mumtrepreneurs.' 'Soon, we would begin to see some of the results. The idea is to encourage more women to be more enterprising. It would seek to push women out of their shells, to take their destinies into their hands, to become active contributors to the economies of both their homes and country,' she says of her latest initiative.Her concerns stem from the fact that 'the government is not doing enough for women in the country.' In her view, governments only show semblances of concern for the womenfolk by floating a lot of organizations, which only benefit a few.'Most operators of the supposed government empowerment schemes are self-centred. Even the 35 per cent affirmation on women participation in government is only a farce. Government should be serious in setting up centres that would truly train and assist women, with professionals as monitoring agents. This would eventually help the nation. Is there not an adage that says if you train a woman, you potentially train 10 people,' she asks'Besides, to make empowerment and training schemes work, she is also of the view that there should be infrastructure to support them. Otherwise, the businesses that would spring therefrom would go moribund.Citing her IT centre as example, she says it is becoming less profitable to continue running it because of the huge cost of providing alternative power for computers in order to give people hands-on experience.'Computers are also breaking down because one cannot adequately support a cool environment for them. And when business is not growing, you cannot get the right hands to engage to further enhance the growth of the company. Ideas would continue bubbling in your head, but there would be no means to actualize them; a significant part of the means being infrastructure.'I had to do the road that leads to my plaza, I had to provide water for the plaza, I had to provide electricity by acquiring about four generators. Yet, PHCN would bring bill for electricity they did not supply and as a good citizen, I must pay. There are many areas of my businesses where I could get people engaged thereby reducing the unemployment in the polity. But if business does not grow, how would I do that' These are issues government must look at. There is so much knowledge about solutions to our challenges as a nation but government must have the will power and be sincere enough to actualize them,' she avers.Mrs Eyitayo is one person many upcoming young women have a lot to learn from. Always bursting with zest, she is strong, quite resourceful and never discouraged at any endeavour. She is a go-getter. And when she speaks, she breathes that feeling of self-assurance into her audience. She is that contagious.Eyitayo superintends over Comfort Olu Eyitayo and Co, a firm of Chartered Accountants. She manages MCL Compaigne Limited, a multidimensional consulting and training firm. She has forayed into hospitality, and added the running of Eden Comfort Plaza, a multi-facility event venue in the heart of Ikeja, Lagos to her growing concerns. Yet, she is a dutiful mother and a grandmother.Turning out as she is today has not however been a happenstance. According to her, a rich dose of the fear of God and strong Christian values in addition to her family background and upbringing have been key. As uneducated as her mother was, she worked hard to give her, along with her siblings, the best education and make them comfortable. She was trained to work hard and given the orientation that nothing comes through luck.Becoming an accountant was not planned; she stumbled on it. Back in her secondary school days, her late uncle who was her guardian influenced her to settle for the sciences, which explains why she did it at the school certificate level. At the time, she wanted to be a nurse. But a realization that she had a phobia for dead bodies or blood made her rethink.And so, for her A'Levels, she took to Economics, Accounting, Book Keeping and all that. After her A'Levels, she got married and journeyed to the United Kingdom with her husband. While in London, she studied further at Hammersmith and West London College between 1978 and 1980 and obtained her HND in Accounting with Upper Credit. She followed up with postgraduate studies in Accountancy at Sheffield City Polytechnic. She later put in for ACCA. That set the tone for a profession in Accounting.On relocating home with her husband, she joined one of the leading Accounting firms known then as Peat Marwick Ani Ogunde and Co. (now KPMG) as Audit Trainee, assisting in various audit assignments and related tax matters. She eventually converted to ICAN and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1987. It has since been no looking back.She carried out audit assignments as Auditor-in-charge and leader of the audit team for various organizations. She was later seconded to the UK office, where she specialized in computer audit training.While with KPMG, her experience and engagements in accounting were vast and varied. And after a fulfilling career, she resigned 'to start her firm and also be in business' because of her flair for doing business.So alongside the firm, she registered MCL Compaigne Limited, doing a lot of consulting and contract work on computers, computer engineering works, engaging engineers and seconding them to oil companies. She also established an IT outfit through which she did networking, supplying everything around computers, the peripharals, buying computers from the US, selling them, doing training as well.'My Accounting firm, Comfort Olu Eyitayo and Co operated alongside all of these. I started doing audit and tax consultancy for clients. We also trained in relation to accounting for people and companies just setting out,' she says of her little beginnings in business.Her Computer and Allied Business School, which operates as a subsidiary of MCL, offers different courses and is now one of the accredited centres for ICAN's Technological Competence Initiative (TCI) training for graduates who are not computer literate.Mrs Eyitayo has since added hospitality business to her plate as a build-up to her enterprise. She explains the reason for it: 'When you have entrepreneurship in you, you are always looking at the terrain and asking where else you can add value to.'With the idea of street parties dying, it meant the need for event centres was on the rise. In trying to satisfy that felt need, among others, she established a one-stop centre, the Eden Comfort Plaza on Alade Avenue in Ikeja. 'For instance, if you come to do your social engagement, you may need to shop. For those who want to organize seminars, they may need the back up of some secretarial services. So, we have a business centre in the complex.'We have various sizes of training rooms and halls for big conferences. This is more than an event centre because it has accommodation, business centre, halls for ceremonies, a shopping centre, and a standard restaurant to cater to your culinary needs. Without being boastful, the ambience is most welcoming. And since venturing into this almost two years ago, the experience has been worth the effort.'Having hands in so many pies is tasking, no doubt. But she says if you are multi-tasking, it should not be too much. 'It is a hectic life but I was not born with a silver spoon. My tough background cooked me for this type of challenge. However, if you have the willpower and are not lazy, you would pursue and achieve anything,' she enthused.
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