In this exclusive chat with SUNDAY ANI, Mrs Anokwuru, who is also the President and founder of SelfWorth Organisation for Women Development, a non-governmental organisation that addresses the needs of widows, poor women and teenage girls, takes a look at her new office, her roles in ensuring peaceful coexistence among women from different ethnic groups in Lagos, the challenges facing her NGO among other issues.
As a Senior Special Assistant on Women Ethnic Group Mobilization and Empowerment to the Lagos State governor, what exactly are you expected to do?
My job is to mediate among the non-ethnic groups in Lagos State, to ensure that there is peace among them. We resolve whatever conflict among them. We make sure that women in the state are happy. If they have issues and challenges that are peculiar to them based on their ethnicity, it is the responsibility of my office to come in and know what the problems are and possibly proffer solutions to the problems. We also empower women through various projects that we do. We have a forum where we address ourselves and ensure that our stay in Lagos is memorable, comfortable and enterprising. We ensure that women in Lagos State are all doing well. That’s what my office is all about.
You have spent almost eight months on the seat, how has the journey been so far? What have you been doing?
My office is a new one. It was created by the governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola in October last year because he is a man who appreciates all the ethnic groups in Nigeria. He is a detribalized human being and a father who believes that all of us in Lagos belong to one big family. Lagos State is one big family because there are different ethnic groups here and the governor believes in bringing everybody together to enjoy the democracy dividends and all the good things in Lagos State. So, we have been mobilizing the women groups and trying to find out the things that they want to see happen in the state. We organise various workshops and trainings for them, both within the metropolitan city and rural areas and we try to find out their challenges and how the government can be of assistance to them. That’s what we have been able to do so far.
How has your appointment impacted on the lives of non-Yoruba women in Lagos State?
Honestly, my position as a Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Women Ethnic Groups Mobilization and Empowerment has been positively accepted by these women. They are so happy that one of their own is in the house. When they have issues, they can call and we will table their challenges before the governor. We can also go to the deputy governor to say that these particular women from this group have this need. Now, they have a voice in the Lagos house; they have a representative in Lagos house and that brings them closer to the government. They are so happy that this great governor has decided that a woman who is not an indigene of the state should be in the government house to bring to him information and news on the challenges and matters that affect all the other women. He has a strong passion for children and women. He didn’t say men ethnic group, rather he said women ethnic group because he loves the women of this state. He wants the best for them and equally wants them to be comfortable, whether Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa; wherever you come from as long as you are a woman in Lagos State, the governor has your heart and your attention.
How have you been combining the work of your NGO and this new assignment?
Honestly, whatever you are doing as a woman or as a man you have do it with all your might, strength and zeal that you have. This is because my appointment as a Senior Special Assiatant to the governor stemmed from the fact that I was running Selfworth Organisation on my own without funding. We are engaged in various projects and almost every month, we are involved in one project or the other. We reach out to the poor, local women and, in fact, women with all manner of problems, assist them and address their needs and all that. So, I believe that the governor got wind of our activities and what we are doing and decided to know the people involved. He probably would have wondered: Who is this woman who on her own has been doing all these? And that was how I was called and appointed. That is because I was diligent in discharging my normal duty as the Selfworth President. It was from there I was noticed. So, whatever you are and wherever you are, be diligent. You might be a cleaner in your office, a teacher in a school, a doctor in a general hospital or whatever; you don’t know who is watching. I don’t know who told the governor to appoint me. I believe that God just made him to notice what I was doing. As long as you are not discouraged in what you are doing, you are not relaxed and you are not giving up, your time of remembrance will definitely come. God will remember you.
How often do you organise empowerment for the young girls?
The empowerment for the young girls is done three times in a year.
What kind of empowerment do you give to the widows?
If you go through our pictures, you will see we have given sewing machines, grinding machines and other items. In November 2013, we gave N40, 000 to each of the women to start a small crayfish business. We have organised trainings on ankara shoe and bag making as well as in soap making. We organise weekly entrepreneurial lectures for them; in fact, we have so many beneficiaries.
What are the major challenges of your organisation?
The biggest challenge facing Selfworth is funding. One thing I have noticed is that Nigerians have not cultivated that habit of giving so much, especially to charity or to the underprivileged. But when you look at the bible in Matthew 25:35, Jesus Christ says, “Depart from me into everlasting fire for I was sick and you did not visit me; I was naked and you never clothed me; I was hungry and you did not feed me. And they said: Lord, when did we see you sick, naked and hungry and we did not do all these things? And He said: In as much as you do it to the least of my brethren, you have done it to me.” So, I believe so much in tithing, seed sowing and offering, but of course, I believe that one thing that will take you to heaven; one thing that will touch the heart of God is when you give to the underprivileged.
What inspired you to do what you are doing?
My background inspired me. I come from a very humble family where things were tough. Life was very hard but we were taught to appreciate what we have. We were taught endurance; we were taught to be determined by our parents. We were also taught that education is the key to success. So, despite the fact that I didn’t have the silver-spoon background, I got into school and I was determined to make something out of life. So, I dwelt on my education, made good result and came out of school. But when I came out of school, there was no job. Life was very hard and for a very long time we kept on managing because there was no job. I and my young husband were together; we were both very poor. We didn’t have any job, so it was terrible. But I didn’t give up; instead when the hardship became so unbearable, I moved to the road side as a telephone operator.
How do you juggle your duties as an SSA to the governor, Selfworth president and as a wife?
It is all about time management. If you plan yourself very well, you will not have any problem doing all that.
Who is your role model?
Opra Winfrey is my role model. I look at what she has done in the life of children in South Africa and Tanzania and the schools she has built there; she has been empowering people. She is in America but she is touching lives in Africa. So, her lifestyle inspires me.
Let’s share your childhood
I was born in Lagos to Engr. James Okezie and Mrs Mary Ihuoma Okezie in 1977; some 37 years ago. I am the last in the family of six. I attended Methodist Primary School and Obele Community High School both in Surulere. I attended Lagos State University where I studied Microbiology. My parents are both late. My mother died when I was quite young; I was 16 then. Even going through school was very tough. I sold things in school to fend for myself. I started suffering from a very tender age and that’s why I have interest in teenage girls. If I wasn’t the type that was focused and determined, I am sure with all the challenges I went through in school; I wouldn’t have made it to where I am today. I saw the Aristo girls on campus, the sugar daddies but I remained focused because I knew what I wanted to achieve in life; I knew where I was going to. I didn’t allow myself to be carried away by problems. So, I tell young girls that no matter what they are going through; their background or circumstances are just for a while. ‘Odighi adigide’, meaning no condition lasts forever; is my favourite proverb. There is no traffic, no hold-up that lasts forever. It must clear; it must ease out. No matter how bad it is for them, at the end of the tunnel, there must be light. So, they should not allow peer pressure to affect them and make them misbehave.
How did you meet your husband?
He met me rather while I was still in school. We started courting but as soon as I graduated, we got married. Both of us came out and we were jobless for years. He came out two years before me but he was still trying to find his feet when I came out and joined him.
How did he propose to you?
Ah! It wasn’t that kind of formal proposal. We have been friends and it was a good relationship. We just assumed we were going to get married. So, we kept on going until we knew it was time for us to get married and that was what happened.
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