In this interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, wife of the Ekiti State governor, Biodun Oyebanji, spoke on her experiences with indigent students as a university teacher, the motivation behind her pet project, Widows and Orphans Hope (WAOH), the benevolent personality of her husband and how her pet project could be sustained, among other issues.
As a senior lecturer in the University of Ibadan with over 80 publications to your credit, what are those things you miss most in the classroom?
All my life, I have worked in the university environment. I started as a graduate assistant from Ekiti State University, then known as the University of Ado Ekiti. That was where I started my career journey. I was a year into Lecturer 1 when I moved to the University of Ibadan for family reasons. On getting to the University of Ibadan, I had to start all over again.
I joined the university system in the year 2000, almost 23 years ago. I have worked in the university system, held various positions, committees and many responsibilities. I miss the rapport in the academic world, the liberty, the freedom. You know, in the university system there is this academic freedom we enjoy. It is a platform where you can express yourself and be what you want to be. I miss that. And I miss my students because of my close relationship with them. Some of them call me aunty, some of them call me mummy. I miss all of that. But so far, so good, I thank God for everything.
How has it been since your assumption of office as the First Lady of Ekiti State?
God has been very gracious to me. My journey as an academic has prepared me for this office. I have been working with various people in the academic system. It is like one of the things I did when I was in UI.
It has not been easy but we have been pulling through. The experience I garnered in the academic world has helped me to deal with many issues. We have to deal with women and children, and that is awesome. Although it is tough, God has been helping us.
Can you speak on some interventions your office has carried out since your assumption of office?
I was fortunate to take over from the former First Lady who is like a mother to me. She took me through what I needed to know, especially in the area of campaign against gender-based violence in Ekiti State. And you would agree with me that Ekiti has been in the forefront in the campaign against gender-based violence issues like rape, abusive relationship and others.
When I came on board, I hit the ground running on that because it had been institutionalised. By the grace of God, I have been able to intervene in some gender-based violence cases.
A case in point was that of a woman who was sentenced for owing. At the time of her sentence, the woman was about two or three months pregnant. It was brought to my notice and I was able to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice. Along the line, before we got the woman out, she put to bed in prison. So I had to come in to ensure the safety of the baby, stabilise the woman. And the Ministry of Justice, in partnership with my office, swung into action, and today, the woman has been released.
There are many cases like that. And that afforded me the opportunity to know that there are so many women in prison.
We mediate and things are getting normal in the area of gender-based violence.
Since my coming to office there are lots of interventions we have done. Many people come to my office – students, the poor – from time to time – and we have intervened. We gathered people in need together and do empowerment for them. Recently, I was able to do the Back to School Programme for over 400 orphans.
What was the motivation behind your pet project, Widows and Orphans Hope?
As a lecturer you meet lots of students with different socio-economic backgrounds. We have those who are indigent who have parents and we have those who don’t have parents but are very brilliant. So, at my own little corner as an academic, I have been intervening, paying school fees here and there, giving them money to support them in school and buying mattresses when they got accommodation. You know those things you do silently; and it has always been a burden in my heart.
And even widows. Where I worship, you see people coming to you after service. And they are widows who want you to help them. As an ardent believer in God, the scripture says that the poor will not cease among us. So, if God has deliberately left them among us, it means those of us that have been privileged to be where we are must take responsibility for them. That is one of the reasons I look at the direction of the widows because I believe that they are the most vulnerable in our society.
How is the project being funded?
Funding has always been a problem for every project. I believe that in this kind of thing there is a need for someone to be sacrificial. There is a need for someone to make sacrifices. If it may interest you, when I dabbled into this project, one of the things I started doing was to put some money aside as my own seed money. When God sees that you have good intentions, there is a way he will help you to make it prosperous.
By the grace of God, people have been coming to assist me in this project. I have been going around telling people to help me; and they have been so warm to the widows.
So, if I didn’t start, such assistance may not come because I want to use this platform to assist them. If I don’t do anything, the platform will lapse and posterity may not judge me well.
How do you plan to sustain the project after your tenure?
I think it is very germane to the issue at hand. Look at the gender-based violation prevention and prohibition policy which initiated by the former First Lady, Erelu Bisi Fayemi. Is she still in office today? She is not, but we are still running the policy in a way that it has been institutionalised. The kind of work she did while she was in office was to sensitise people on this gender-based violence thing and everybody in Ekiti is now aware that you cannot just treat your wife anyhow, you cannot just rape and go scot-free.
So, I intend that this project would not die with my tenure. I will sensitise people and appeal to their emotion and consciousness. I am going to carry everybody along, and very soon, I want to involve the wives of the local government chairmen.
Can you recall one or two unpleasant experiences about widows and orphans that have really touched your heart?
Part of my responsibility in the university system before coming on board was to compute the results of students. We were called course advisers. We computed results and monitored the academic progress of students.
There was a student who was on first class but his academic performance started dropping. You have to look for students with such a case because in the university system we are not just lecturers, we are “in loco parentis” to these children. In the Senate or when we are presenting results, the question they will as you is, “What happened to the student?” So you have to do your homework.
I encountered many of such students, and some of them would say, “I am an orphan, so I had to go and hustle before coming back to school.” So, that will affect their academic performance. We had to intervene in many cases like that. That was where the passion for orphans started.
So, my job exposed me to both widows and orphans; and I know that they go through a lot. Then, in the society you meet them everywhere. For instance, in places like churches they ask you for assistance because they go through a lot.
Let’s talk about your husband and his passion for people. Is it what he was doing before he decided to embrace public service?
I have been married to this man for the past 25 years, so I should be able to say one or two things about that. Well, don’t forget that BAO has been privileged. He has been blessed to be in public service. He has been in the midst of his people for about two decades. If you would recall, he started as a special assistant, which is the lowest cadre of the political appointment. He later became a special adviser, chief of staff, commissioner in about three or four times; director-general and secretary to the state government. All these positions of course exposed him to Ekiti people; and by nature, he is just a compassionate person. BAO cannot stand somebody suffering, even when he was outside public service.
He is a farmer, he has a poultry business in Ibadan. People still come for assistance. From his business, he is somebody I know that will go and dip his hands into business money to pay school fees. I will tell him that, ‘Oga, this is not how to do business,’ and he will say ‘do you want them to die of hunger?’ By nature, he is a very compassionate person, and this is what he had been doing before coming to office. But with this political trajectory, you will know that he has spent a long time in the political space. God has found him as an instrument in his hand and he has yielded himself to God for use. He has always loved to make an impact and the position of the governorship has given him the platform to do that. It can only get better, by the grace of God.
