“Celebration Of A Champion” Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu: Changing The Narratives For Women Development
Afam Echi
The Nigerian society is never lacking with the abundance of men and women who are resourceful and financially endowed to provide relief to the less privileged ones. What is lacking is the willingness of the rich few to spare a little of their wealth to the needy. It has been said that to eradicate poverty share what you have. This statement is only observed in breach than in action in our society as at present. Women by virtue of their placement in the social strata and given the dominance of men in the distribution of wealth are hardly associated with wealth and so not much is usually expected from them.
What the women boasts of in its abundance is the milk of kindness and sympathy to love, share, care, sacrifice, nurture and be mother to everyone around them. These qualities have been amply demonstrated by Her Excellency, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the wife of the Governor of Ondo State and a woman of outstanding qualities. At a period people especially politicians give because of one ulterior motive or another, Akeredolu chose to stand out because she wants to see a better society made possible through women development and empowerment.
The Champion
And so today we have chosen to celebrate a rare breed of a woman described as a Champion in many respects. She has distinguishably championed women development, fight against breast cancer and a better society for all. Who is our champion you may want to know.
Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu was born in 1953 in the remote village of Emeabiam in Owerri-West local government area of Imo State. She attended the prestigious Egbu Girls’ Secondary School, Egbu in Owerri. Her tertiary education in aquaculture was obtained at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka which prides itself as breeders of Lions and Lionesses. She has proven to be one of such Lions in the manner she is seeking to tear down the walls that has since incapacitated women development in a male dominated environment. The journey of love took her to far away Ondo State where she found the love of her life, Rotimi Akeredolu who by stroke of destiny became the number one citizen of Ondo State.
Instruments
On what tools is she using to break down the barriers one may ask? There is the Betty-Anyanwu Akeredolu Foundation (BAAF) under which initiative she runs her BEMORE empowerment programs and the BRECAN (Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria). There is also the FOWOSO, Foundation for Wives of Ondo State Officials, her other initiative empowering women in diverse ways. Each of these groups has carried out numerous programs that have touched lives significantly in many verifiable ways.
Changing the narratives
Women are known to play critical roles in development from any angle it is viewed. Sadly and unfortunately they have remained at the short end of the stick in terms of benefits accruable to the society especially in our own kind of setting. While many of them are in realization of this, the challenge has remained, how, when and through who will the redemption come from. In the light of what is going on currently in Ondo, it would appear Madam Akeredolu has stepped out boldly to bring answers to these nagging questions.
The narratives are gradually changing for the women of Ondo and imagine what would happen if there are about 20 so privileged women replicating what she is doing in other parts of the country. What could have possibly inspired and motivated this woman who by our society rating is among the few rich that can comfortably relax and be enjoying the perquisites of her office instead of troubling herself with the concerns of others.
According to her, “I believe if you will do a good, you must shut your eyes to whatever accolades you think your good deserves. All the developmental projects I have initiated and implemented are driven by passion and are a result of all I have experienced from childhood. As a child I noticed how the girl-children were systematically raised to be of little or no value to the society.”
She holds the views that the typical African society is one that revels in cultural and religious practices which appears to limit opportunities for the girl-child, limits the freedom of women and seeks to rationalise the injustice as the norm which must not be questioned. It cannot be questioned that even in the light of the critical roles that women play in development they have been relegated to the background and not given their dues. The issue of gender equality is still topical today in many discourses.
Perhaps, it is on account of these that the first woman of Ondo State vowed to throw her cap into the rings to salvage the situation for the women. Hear her, ‘I saw how women have significantly contributed in other climes and I knew even if it means my life, I will stop at nothing to see the emancipation of African women.”
On what is her reason for focusing on the girl child, she has this to say, “there is the urgent need to build up the self-esteem of the girl child, mould her so that she could have the capacity to recognise that she has potentials and that she could not be limited by any cultural or religious barriers set by the society. One of these barriers states that women belong to the home, in the kitchen doing house chores and the ‘oza’ room breeding children.”
And what impact if any has she extracted from her effort, Aranbirin went on, ‘but I can tell you that for this my BEMORE girls, ‘tori don change patapata’. You cannot do that with them because they have come to the BEMORE world, world with endless opportunities and possibilities. So we are opening doors for them to another world they were not used to. And they love it.’’
Lending credence to the above, Adesina Tosin Nathaniel, from Lagos averred that the “on-going BEMORE program is currently the largest Summer Boot Camp for Girls in Nigeria. It is not just the largest but the most impactful. The areas of focus of the Boot Camp are Solar, ICT and Entrepreneurship. These programs were carefully because the nature of work has changed worldwide. Mrs Akeredolu could have chosen to distribute noodles, buckets and mopping sticks as politicians are known to do, but she believes that she needs to impact her society by levelling up the children of the poor with that of the rich.”
Activities
The First lady lines up a number of activities to achieve her objectives. For instance she runs an annual Tennis Clinic for the young ones with a view to creating opportunities for discovering future talents who will rule the world in that area of sports. The 2019 Ondo summer edition witnessed the participation of 300 kids.
The FOWOSO initiative is another empowerment program through which the lives of not less than 3000 women have been touched. From this number 100 women from each of the 18 local governments were trained on skills acquisition while 50 others from each of the local governments who already possessed some skills were provided some start up equipment and support. Within the short span of FOWOSO, undergraduates numbering 900, male and female were provided with laptops.
In her comments, the Imo born First Lady said, “I believe that empowerment of women is not by giving them money but economic empowerment. In a family where husband and wife are generating income, there is less friction. We complain about subjugation because majority of our women are impoverished.” Beyond the skills acquisition more than 20, 000 women have been reached with the Breast Cancer awareness program.
In response to the increasing cases of rape and dehumanisation of young girls, she introduced Taekwondo as a curriculum in the Boot Camp program. This in her view is to improve the confidence of the young girls and arm them with techniques to dislodge the rapists. In addition, she organised ‘Walk Against Rape’ in condemnation and to create the needed awareness against the evil.
The BEMORE runs a two weeks Summer Boot Camp, aimed at bridging the gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine) and empowering girls to become complete leaders who are able to pilot the affairs of our nation effectively. So far the program boasts of more than 1000 girls in Information and Communication Technology, (ICT) solar technology and all sort of life enhancing skills. After an ICT training, she delivered 400 laptops to 400 women, a feat considered very rare.
In the words of Rowland C.N.O, Special Assistant on Social Media, BEMORE’s very clear aim is to project the girl child who hitherto had been relegated to the background on issues pertaining to leadership, technology and other developmental strides to break free from such shackles. This is done by equipping her with the right education, skill set, and motivation. BEMORE is a conscious effort aimed at changing the narrative by repositioning her to transcend from an observer to an active player and a leader. Giving the girl child an education that is modern, relevant and comprehensive is the only means to achieve this’’.
Impact
Lush glimpsed that although the greater number of the beneficiaries of this group is of Ondo extraction, some other young women from Osun, Lagos, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Ekiti, Anambra, Akwa-Ibom, have tapped from the benefits of the program. Speaking again Akeredolu, for emphasis stated that “Nigeria cannot achieve the development we all crave for if the 50% of its population, the women, continue to be relegated to the background or confined permanently to the role of care givers.”
She further insists that women can indeed be more than the roles which society has relegated her to and it is the cardinal objective of the project to impress this upon the consciousness of the participants. Who says that women can’t be more when the testimonies from the three-year-old program are speaking eloquently that the future female technology leaders are being moulded now.
Samplers
Tolu Ehimosan, currently a Computer Engineering student at the University of Lagos and a BEMORE 2017 product constructed a solar oven that she donated to her Okitipupa Stella Maris Secondary School. In 2018, she represented BEMORE in Iran where Solar4Girls Naija, was nominated for an award at the World Renewable Energy Awards. Solar4Girls Naija was a runner up in the contest.
Another 2018 product of BEMORE, Marvelous Jegede of Arigidi Grammar School, Akoko, Ondo State after attending the program took the bull by the horn to bring light into her home that had experienced power outage for two years. She successfully installed a Solar Panel that lightened the home. It was thrilling and exciting watching her do so. Her project it was learnt was turned in for the CNN HEROES 2019 for nomination. Another set of young girls have participated in the Technovation challenge organised by Silicon Valley in the USA where they showcased an application they built to facilitate birth registration in Nigeria.
Her interest in women health is also captured in her undying passion for creating awareness against Cancer, a scourge that has taken the lives of many women. They say he who feels it knows it and experience we are also told is the best teacher. Watching her BRECAN team demonstration in an award ceremony, the Imo Newspapers Publishers Association (INPA) Chairman and former Chief Press Secretary, Henry Ekpe simply described her as a CANCER champion drawing from the manner she drums home the campaign.
In her words, “I am particularly concerned about the alarming rate at which women are dying from breast and cervical cancer. Having experienced breast cancer 22 years ago, I know the pain every family goes through when a member is diagnosed with breast cancer. I can’t stand aside and watch thousands of Nigerian women lose their lives to breast cancer yearly, their pain is my pain, their suffering is my suffering, I feel every bit of it, so I must be their voice.”
Her cancer awareness campaign since 1997, yielded great dividends when the Ondo State government built a context-appropriate comprehensive cancer treatment centre which has made it possible to attract high ranking universities in the world for partnership. Dana-Farber Cancer Centre of Harvard University already signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government and Heidelberg University of Germany is about to follow. Her BRECAN is rooted in 8 states and counting.
Honours
A golden fish has no hiding place. He who the cap fits let him wear, so goes the aphorisms. And so it was that honour should be given to whom it is due when among other accolades, the Imo Newspapers Publishers Association (INPA) in recognition of these lofty feats in a rare manner awarded an honour to Akeredolu.
In her response on the award she insisted that breast cancer no longer kills if you do the right thing at the right time adding that cervical cancer is one of the types of cancer that can be best managed in recent time. The Owerri born First Lady expressed her appreciation to INPA wondering that they were able to identify her to be honoured even when she has devoted all of her programs and activities to the South West without yet doing anything to her state of birth.
Earlier, the Institute for National Transformation (INT) having taken cognisance of the effort of the First Lady in raising the next generation of selfless female leaders bestowed on her an Award of Excellence. The Chairman of the Board of the Institute stated that Akeredolu’s initiative is in tandem with the vision of INT which is the transformation of families, organisation, communities and nations to their highest level of performance and achievements.
Among her other numerous awards, she has also received royal accolades. The Olowa and Paramount ruler of Igbara-Oke Kingdom, HRM Oba Dr. Francis. A. Agbede has extolled the performance of the number one woman in the state which he said is bringing development to the Sunshine State. In his words, “Achievements at the BEMORE empowerment training project will linger for long in the memories of the children as soon as they master one trade or the other to become employers of labour later in life.”
The awards galore continued to celebrate the Champion when last month she was honoured with an award of Championne of Humanity at the Tribune’s Platinum Awards ceremony in Lagos for her outstanding humanitarian services, also at the maiden World Reunion of Egbu Girls’ Old Girls Association, she was honoured during a Gala/Awards Night at the Rockview Hotel Owerri with an Award of Special Appreciation for her contributions to the school.
If the other women in the country share in the vision of Betty Akeredolu and pursue it vigorously in the same manner she is doing her thing, certainly it would not be long for women to retrieve back what is due to them which has since been buried in cultural and religious belief. If a woman can be the mother of the governor, president or whoever, if a woman is the wife of the man, if a woman can give all the pleasures and care to the man, what says that a woman cannot be on top? There are really no limitations for the woman or anybody except the ones they have allowed
