When you have known someone for as much as 25 years, you might as well claim having an some ample amount of authority to write, and authenticate writings about that person. I still feel honored till this day as the Best Man during that September1989 Epic of a Wedding Ceremony, and so if at any time it filters into your ears the reference to "First Friend", here I come.
The First Lady of Ekiti State, Nigeria, Her Excellency Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, is a complete epitome of a blessed woman.
She is highly educated and learned, intelligent, classy, cute with beautiful face, stunning smile, captivating eyes, and smart. She is adventurous, widely travelled and has a great imagination. She is blessed with manners and etiquette. Her dress sense is second to none. Bisi has always been a woman who knows how to dress and how to make them look good on her. A woman that knows that she must also give in a relationship and not just take, a woman that is positive and optimistic. A woman that handles the functionality of the demands expected of a wife and mother effortlessly. She is a fighter.You might as well ask the Amazons of Ekiti during those really rough serial election days in Ekiti State.A woman of steely inner strength. The Erelu Herself !
I am tempted to describe her as the ultimate quintessential lady, dignified and gracious. A dogged fighter and defender of woman's right all over African, and which has won her awards all over the world.
I will from time to time be re-publishing already published articles about her in this portal. Ultimately, it might as well become a place to find every information you might ever need about The of First Lady of Ekiti State, Nigeria, Her Excellency Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi. The first of such is hereby published below. Enjoy.
Speech by First Lady of Ekiti State, Nigeria @ AFRUCA Fundraising Dinner 2011
AFRUCA 10TH ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISING DINNER
SATURDAY 16TH JULY 2011
LONDON, UK
First, let me say a big thank you to the Trustees and Staff of AFRUCA for all their hard work promoting the rights and welfare of African children in the UK and for inviting me to this very important event. You may not be aware, but my involvement with AFRUCA goes back to their very early days when I chaired their very first conference: “The Challenges of Migration: The Experiences of African Children in the UK”. That was in 2002 – soon after their establishment in 2001. I am very proud and very pleased to be here – almost 10 years later at this special event to mark the 10th anniversary of AFRUCA and to celebrate their achievements over the years.
Earlier this afternoon, I was opportuned to meet with some of the young women AFRUCA works with here in London. These are women have experienced some of the worst forms of poverty in Nigeria and other African countries and who, because of their vulnerability, become prey to child traffickers. They have experienced untold suffering and abuse at the hands of people who feel it is alright to use other human beings as slaves and to exploit them for their labour. Some of these women are from my own state of Ekiti, and it concerns me that our children in Ekiti are being trafficked to the UK here to be exploited and abused. This is something we will start to address through the programmes and policy frameworks we are putting in place in Ekiti which I will talk about shortly.
But I want to truly commend the work AFRUCA is doing with these young women who became isolated, helpless and without any form of support upon their escape from their traffickers and exploiters. Apart from providing them with practical help to access different services including medical care, education, finance, child support and legal assistance, I was very impressed with AFRUCA’s idea of using drama to help these young people to heal and rebuild their lives. Of course, the very impressive performance we just saw is a testament to how well this project has impacted on these young women. Like I said, I met them this afternoon and they were confident and self assured, bright and intelligent. There was a lot of laughter and smiling, yet I know from experience of working with vulnerable women at Akina Mama Wa Afrika and the African Women’s Development Fund that it is not always like that for women with terrible experiences of exploitation. I would therefore like to commend AFRUCA for supporting victims of trafficking in the UK. Their work is a testament to the fact that we as a community, as a people, need each other to continue to help and support the less fortunate women and children in our midst, and to make life better for those who are less privileged in our community. I believe it is our duty to do so.
Indeed, the promotion of the rights of women and children is a hallmark of the present government of Ekiti, and is a core element of its 8 point agenda. This is the reason we have begun work on a number of policies and initiatives in our state of Ekiti to help create change and impact on the lives of women and children. On June 8th this year, my husband’s government approved the Ekiti State Gender Policy to hereby domesticate the National Gender Policy put in place by the federal government to help prioritise the needs of women and allocate resources at the state and local government levels to help address their needs. This policy will help to end all forms of discrimination against women in our state and provide better chances for women to reach positions at higher levels. I am very proud of the fact that Ekiti State is the first state in Nigeria to domesticate the National Gender Policy. I believe this is a testimony to the seriousness my husband’s government places on the roles and importance of women in efforts to regenerate and rebuild Ekiti State.
We are working on a Gender-Based Violence bill. This is a bill that will be sent to parliament before August 2011. It will help to criminalise many acts of violence against women and children in our State.
Ekiti State also has a Child Rights Act to help provide a better life for our children in Ekiti. In particular, I am very concerned about the high rate of child rape in Ekiti State. In recent weeks, I have seen cases of the most appalling sexual abuse of young children – including the gruesome rape of a 13 year old and attempted rape of a 4 year old child. I believe it is essential that we start to address this anomaly through effective awareness and sensitisation programmes, to educate parents, teachers and others in the community about how to protect children from being abused, while punishing the perpetrators and providing support for victims.
I cannot talk about all these positive changes in Ekiti without mentioning the work of my Foundation, the Ekiti Development Foundation, which was launched on June 11th, 2011, in Ado-Ekiti. The work of the organization will focus on economic empowerment, political participation, healthcare, education and training, promoting local philanthropy, and the arts. As I already mentioned, when communities are faced with socio-economic challenges, women and children are often worst affected. This is why most of EDF's work will focus on women and youth. However, there will be a strong emphasis on the well-being of all citizens in the community.
So what will the EDF achieve? The Foundation will work with and support smaller non-governmental organizations based in Ekiti State financially and through capacity-building to ensure these organizations achieve their aim of helping the people of Ekiti. The Foundation will support initiatives that will help to empower women and the youths through, for example, the provision of capital for loans for women’s co-operatives and financial training for young people. We will establish a Leadership Academy to help build the leadership qualities of young people in our state. We will also create a database of Ekiti women professionals within and outside Ekiti who can be called upon to serve in various capacities to help develop the state.
The Foundation will support various health programmes and complement government efforts in improving service delivery to women in health care provision. In particular, we want to support projects that will help to raise awareness and sensitise people about harmful traditional practices, including Female Genital Mutilation. We want to help promote Ekiti’s rich cultural heritage through showcasing the skills and talents of Ekiti women and youths. Much of our culture and talents are unknown outside; we want to help find appropriate markets for much of our products outside the state.
Indeed, there is a lot going on in Ekiti to help make life better for our women and children. These changes will not happen overnight, however it is time we stopped the abuse of the less privileged in our midst and addressed the exploitation of our children. I am very pleased that AFRUCA is doing its best in this regard here in the UK. I also look forward to being a part of your work in Nigeria. I hope AFRUCA will also come to work with us in Ekiti. We look forward to having you.
Once again, I commend AFRUCA for all their hard work over the past 10 years. It is my greatest pleasure to present Certificates of Achievements to the young people I met earlier today and for their drama performance which you will all agree with me was just excellent.
Credits: AFRUCA - Africa Unite Against Child Abuse
"I have often spoken and written about the fluidity of identities, and how important it is for us to invest in managing our various transitions from one identity to another, whether these identities are claimed by us or thrust upon us. From being a women’s rights activist, gender specialist and social change philanthropy advocate, on October 16th 2010, I became the Wife of a Governor. My own understanding of what happened to me did not translate into abandoning all the things that are important to me – my world view, values, affiliations and principles. I was aware that to make this work, I would need to strike a balance between the things I truly care about, and the expectations of the position I found myself in. I also knew that I would have to work hard at ensuring that my theoretical understanding of power and transformational leadership would be matched by sound, ethical practices." - The of First Lady of Ekiti State, Nigeria, Her Excellency Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi.
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