The role of First Lady in the US had been to act as hostess of the White House, not until Eleanor Roosevelt came along to revolutionise it. Unlike those before her, she brought education, activism and popularity into the job and was able to use her fame to promote significant policies which affected the lives of Americans positively.
Some of the feathers in her cap were the promotion of civil rights for African-Americans, women empowerment and feminism, championing labour unions and workers’ rights, helping to boost the morale of US troops during World War II and leading the charge for the New Deal Programmes which reshaped US economy. It is also on record the Eleanor held more press conferences, 348 in all, more than any US President ever, much less any First lady. President Harry Truman would later nickname her the “First Lady of the World” in recognition of her astounding human rights achievements.
Just like Eleanor, Adebisi Fayemi, wife of Ekiti State Governor, is giving a new meaning to what “First Lady” means. Besides her towering profile which dwarfs that of any other First Lady in Nigeria or Africa, she, upon assumption of office by her husband, founded the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF), a non-governmental organisation which objective is to provide support for women and youth by empowering them economically. A world reknown activist, Bisi Fayemi brought the same energy with which she garnered fame into making Ekiti women and youth feel the impact of EDF.
In less than two years of its birth, the EDF has already written its name on the slate of Ekiti history through its numerous achievements, and this is without government funding:
1). Glo Mobile Commercial Call Centre Empowerment Project with over 200 beneficiaries
2). Monthly disbursement of funds to indigenes of Ekiti who are in need of help with personal crises, medical bills, school fees…
3). Micro-credit finance for approximately 180 Women’s Groups across the 16 Local Governments in Ekiti State
4). Construction of a crèche Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Ekiti State chapter and support for the union’s widows and orphans.
5). Scholarships female students of Ekiti extraction in Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, through the institution’s Centre for Gender Studies and Social Policy.
6). Co-convening of the first Ekiti State Gender Summit with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment
7). Donation of an 18-seater bus to the Erelu Angela Adebayo Children’s Home, Iyin-Ekiti.
8). Sponsorship of Women in Leadership Capacity Building Programme
9). Assistance for orphans across the State
10). Co-sponsorship of Leadership Development Workshop for Forum of Women in Leadership, Ekiti State at the African Leadership Centre, Nairobi
11). Co-funding the Statewide Orphans and Vulnerable Children apping exercise in collaboration with Ministry of Women’s Affairs, EKSACA and other institutions.
12). Treatment of 50 patients Hernia patients.
13). Maternal Health Record Keeping: A Mother and Child Health Records book to be used by expectant mothers in Ekiti State. This document keeps records for up to four children and will go a long way in helping to address maternal health issues.
14). Breast Cancer Awareness Programme, which includes a Breast Self-Examination Kit, as well as a public enlightenment campaign.
Besides all these achievements, Bisi Fayemi, in collaboration with other well-meaning Ekiti indigenes, has laid down the legal framework to make life easier for Ekiti women and children. She was actively involved in seeing to it that Ekiti has a Family Court which mandate is to promote peace in the family and give succour to families seeking redress over perceived injustice. Mrs. Bisi Fayemi also co-sponsored the Bill Prohibiting Gender-Based Violence which has long been signed into law. Under this law, both male and female are protected against physical and psychological abuse and violence. The law also frowns at harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and widowhood rites, imposition of dress codes under any guise, child marriage. Because of this law, a man would think twice before laying his hand on his wife in Ekiti. There is now a joke among men in Ekiti; they’ll say “Ti Erelu ba mu e!” (If Erelu catches you beating your wife!)
This is not because she is a policewoman, rather it is because the unrivalled energy, zeal and zest with which she handles women and youth-related issues awe people so much that it seems out-of-this-world: “What we are going to be doing is to work in a number of areas especially in economic empowerment, this means we will support women and help raise women out of poverty. This will include programmes of financial literacy, access to micro finance, support for women farmers, support for market infrastructure and things like that. We will complement the efforts of government in health care,”she said after the inauguration of EDF. It is as though she thinks nothing else besides wanting to give Ekiti women a better life. “It is easy for people like me to distribute items like rice, oil and all kinds of things and hand them over to the people, but what happens when the items are consumed? What I have always wished is how we can support communities on a sustainable basis, on an ongoing basis.” That was Bisi Fayemi saying she is not a rice-and-oil First Lady. She prefers to empower women to buy their own rice and vegetable oil themselves, rather than dole it out to them from time to time.
I remember now two incidents, both happened at the Ado-Ekiti prisons. There was a particular woman who was in prison because she couldn’t pay the fine of N50, 000 imposed on her by the court. Mrs. Bisi Fayemi offered to pay, but the woman said she would serve out her term and pleaded to be given the N50, 000 so she could trade with it after leaving prison. Moved with pity, the Ekiti First Lady paid the fine and also gave her another N50, 000 to start her trade.
There was another (narrated by the First Lady herself) who is not even an Ekiti indigene, but was imprisoned in Ado-Ekiti: “There was a case of a young woman who was detained on a murder charge, but before she went on detention, she was pregnant and she was there for months on end. I got a letter from the Comptroller of Prisons, telling me that this woman was 32 weeks pregnant and that she had never received antenatal care. And that she might deliver any time soon. So I collaborated with the Federation of Female Lawyers in the State. We first of all managed to get her out on bail, we managed to get her the medical attentions she needed. She delivered in a hospital with its attendant benefits. When she was to be discharged from hospital, we took care of her till the charges against her were dismissed. Now she is back in her home state of Kogi. We gave her some capital to start her own business. The baby she gave birth to whilst she was in Ekiti I named her Modupe. I send her some money every month to look after her child and ensure that she is okay. I have also managed to secure a half way house in the state to support such women.”
Stories like these are what endear Bisi Fayemi to all and sundry in Ekiti and also rank her as not only the best First Lady Ekiti has ever seen, but the best in Nigeria and Africa in terms of kindness, advocacy for women and youth, identifying with women at all times and making sure that they respect their husbands as well. This respect, coupled with an undying love, is what Bisi Fayemi has continuously doled out to her husband, giving him peace of mind to focus on matters of State. And has this made Governor Fayemi perform creditably? The answer awaits you in Ekiti as the works speak for themselves.
They say behind every successful man is a woman, but I say behind every successful and people-loving man is an intelligent woman who knows where the shoe pinches and from time to time nudges her husband to do what’s best for humanity, complementing also in her own way. This is why Bisi Fayemi is very much like Eleanor Roosevelt who believed that women should be given a voice in every facet of life, especially in governance. Like Eleanor who said “No one can make you inferior without your consent”, Bisi Fayemi dedicates her life to making sure that (not Ekiti women only ) women are not relegated to the background or treated like second class citizens. Like an amazon, she is taking Ekiti women to their rightful position. She is the ‘Deborah’ of Ekiti women – one who secures freedom for her people where others have failed.
‘Dimeji Daniels writes from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State
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