Last week, the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun, clocked
50. In this interview, conducted at the Government House, Abeokuta, she
explains why, as a staunch Christian with a bishop as a father, she is
married to a Muslim even as she shares the memorable moments of her over
25 years marriage to Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
What don’t you like about being a governor’s wife?
Well,
I would’ve said that I don’t like not being able to be myself, but I am
myself. I would’ve said I don’t like the fact that I always have a
large crowd around me – in terms of having people around me, but maybe,
being in second term, the people around me have come to understand that
I’m my own person and that they can’t always follow me around, even if
it’s their duty. So, I think now, I like being the wife of the governor,
especially because, to the glory of God, and I say this with all sense
of responsibility, my husband has done a good job as governor and I feel
proud to raise my head up high that I’m his wife. With the on-goings in
Nigeria now and without being particular or putting any focus on
anybody, I mean, sometimes when you are in this privileged position; it
could be due to circumstances or whatever, you don’t deliver what the
people expect of you. But I make bold to say that to the best of my
husband’s ability, he has fulfilled his promises and I feel proud and
that makes me happy to say that I am his wife.
How do you feel at 50, even when you look much more younger than that age?
I
will take that as a compliment. Thank you very much, and I will give
all glory for that to God. But yes, I have the birth certificate. I am
50 (laughter).
What’s going to change about you now that you are 50?
I
think when you attain that age, you become more reflective, you realize
that you are privileged to attain the golden age and I guess that
things that might have been so unimportant to you start becoming
important – like the issue of health. I don’t think I’m there yet, to be
honest. I mean, I haven’t really started worrying about, okay, maybe
physical strength and things like that. But you are just sort of
becoming more reflective, realizing that, okay, this is the second half,
by God’s grace. That is the only aspect that I can think of. Not that
I’ve really processed it or maybe I haven’t attained it yet. It’s still
forthcoming. But to really be honest, I just know that I’m thankful to
God, reflecting on where I am, the grace that He has given me, the
opportunities, the privilege of good health and things like that. I’m
just more thankful as I realize maybe looking at some peers; realizing
their situations and where I am now. God has been kind to me. Even in
terms of husband, lovely children, I mean, I can’t stop counting my
blessings. So, I’m just thankful.
What are some of the things you share in common with your husband?
After
25 years, I think the question should be what are the things we don’t
share in common? (laughter). However, I have found that the opposite
seems to attract and so, where he’s a hands-on people person, and he
wouldn’t mind jumping into a crowd and just taking people on by way of
speaking to them, I sort of do it by delegating. Like through lots of my
UPLIFT (Understanding People’s Limiting and Inhibiting Factors Today)
programmes, I kind of…but let me take it from the softer aspect –
Spouses of Ogun State Government Functionary Association, I have come to
realize that sometimes members of the association might want to bring
things to my attention, but might be a bit reluctant about it. However, I
found out that sometimes they find it a bit more easier to speak to my
second in command.
So, even though I reach out to people and I
impact positively on them, I am in my opinion approachable, I tend to
work with people by allowing them to find whichever avenue is
comfortable for them to reach me and to feed them back as opposed to me
jumping up and saying, ‘Ok, you can walk through my door’. Well, I will
say my door is open, I say you can send me a message; anybody who knows
me know that I’m not very good with picking phone calls. So, I said,
‘Ok, if you want to reach me, you can send me a message’; that I will
respond that way. Like recently, we had a meeting and I said I have a
suggestion box that if you want to send any message or get any message
across to me, you don’t necessarily have to write your name; that I will
hold the key of the suggestion box. So, feel free to write anything;
that I need to know what’s going on in your mind. I understand that
people might not be able to tell me to my face; I however want to know
the true position of what is going on in their minds. So, that’s another
way that I sort of reach out to people. I’m like an open door, but I
have other avenues through which you can reach me such that you can be
honest with me without holding back
Could you please just give us a brief flashback on your growing up years, etc?
I guess I will flash back to the beginning of marriage years…
Before marriage?
Okay!
So, do you want me to run a documentary on my whole life? (general
laughter). I was born on the 2nd of May, 1966 to a humble family of
Bishop Michael Ayoade Odesanya and Elder Olushola Odesanya. I did half
of my primary school education in the United Kingdom (at James Norland
School); I did the second half in Ayodele Nursery and Preparatory
School, which was in Iyaganku, Ibadan and then I went up to Yejide Girls
Grammar School. I attended Oyo State School of Arts and Science and
then I went to University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, where I
studied English Education, and then I fell in love! (laughter). I met
His Excellency, who then owned an accounting firm, and I guess the rest
is history. We have five wonderful children, who we are very proud of.
Is your husband really the local boy we think he is? Or is it all about packaging, compared to you who is sophisticated…?
Well,
I think that’s a kind of funny as well as a complex question. However,
everybody is entitled to his own opinion. My husband is the most loving,
practical, responsible and hands-on person that anybody could ask for.
And I think this is what transcends in the way that he goes about his
duties and in loving the good people of Ogun State. I don’t want a man
who is so sophisticated that he’s tuned out. My husband is in tune with
reality. I don’t see him as a local person, I see him as a compassionate
hands-on and responsible husband. I don’t see myself as packaging him, I
see him as packaging me. And like we said a while ago, they do say that
opposites attract. So, maybe you can blame it on that if you see any
difference in our dispositions. However, after 25 years, I don’t even
see where the lines are anymore. I believe we are one and the same, we
complement one another. Maybe we don’t always see eye to eye, however,
we always reach a compromise. I don’t think we’ve ever slept on an
argument, because he won’t let you anyway! Even if you are annoyed, even
if he’s upset you, he will still speak to you. That just happens. So, I
hope I’ve answered your question…
Can you share some of your memorable moments together?
Everyday!
Everyday is different and I don’t know why – my husband is just so
real. My husband will tell you,’ I don’t believe in flowers, I don’t
believe in saying I love you’, but what do they say? Action speaks
louder than voice.
Your husband’s unique cap, what’s your
opinion on that and when was the first time you saw him wearing it. Also
have you ever had cause to discuss it, maybe in the bedroom…?
It
doesn’t have to be the bedroom (general laughter). The cap, I recall,
emerged in the days of the Senate, I believe. So, that will put it to
predate 2003. I think his cap changed somewhere around 2001, and it was
just a kind of identity which people sort of like took to and I believe
that the most minimum relevance I could give to it is like pre-2001 when
he will tell me jokes about MK Naira – that’s how Baba’s cap (the late
MKO Abiola) used to be. That is just the barest relevance I could give
to it. Aside from that, it just became something that he was comfortable
with and, if I were to say anything about it, I would always say,
‘Aren’t you fed up with wearing the same style?’ Because even if he’s on
Buba and trousers, it’s the same style…So, I guess his tailor’s job is
very simple (laughter). But I always ask – ‘Aren’t you fed up with just
wearing the same style?’ Again, that just shows the kind of person he is
– he’s consistent. Once he’s comfortable with something, and once he
believes in something, he sticks to it.
Can we talk about your pet projects? And your contributions to the administration of Ogun State?
It’s
to help the needy. Then the needy now falls into the category of a
woman, a man, the physically-challenged person, a child…once an
opportunity opens up to assist, then I go for it. And I try to; the best
way I can. In that regard, I don’t have a pet project tailored to, ‘Oh,
ok, I am just doing this. In anyway it manifests, anyway that I can
complement what His Excellency’s administration is doing, anyway I can
use the platform as the wife of the governor to improve or assist people
that I can, then I just go for it. So, I don’t have a specific pet
project. But if you were to say what is my pet project, even though I
don’t have one, it is reaching out to the vulnerable. That category…
You
are a Christian. Not just that, your parents are ministers of the
gospel, yet you married a Muslim. How easy was it to convince your
parents then?
The first person I told I wanted to get married
to a Muslim was my mother. First, she burst into tears. And then she
asked me whether I had told my dad and I said no and I could see that
mischievous smile (laughter). But, today, my mother and my husband are
like the best of friends and, of course, I get my pound of flesh back
sometimes when they are joking and she has forgotten! I will say, ‘Eh!
Muslim lo fe fe’ (meaning, you want to marry a Muslim). And she will
tell me ‘get away’ (more laughter). You are just lucky! Thank your God.
So, that sort of worked itself out. When I told my dad, he said, ‘Ah,
okay, well, we just have to pray about this one’. But somehow, they hit
it off very well. The thing about it is, my husband believes in God. My
husband, I will say, is even more religious than me. He truly believes
in God, he has faith in God that all things are possible and when you
see somebody that is so committed and you see that based on his faith;
not challenging God, but telling God that ‘I believe in you’ and you see
time and time and time again those things manifesting… it started from
me having faith in his faith. I have faith in his faith, God and that
just made it so easy, because I could see that God did not fail him and I
know that my husband doesn’t believe in anything else, except God.
Was there any deliberate attempt to convert you to Islam?
Not
really. But yes! I pray the Muslim way because we are a very close-knit
family and, in the beginning, I will tell my children, ‘Oya, time to
pray’. ‘But mummy how come you are not praying with us?’ ‘Does that mean
daddy’s God is not a good God?’ My children will ask me. And that was
when I began to give it a thought. It didn’t take much time before I
joined them. The rest, as they say, is history.