Friday, March 29, 2024

Ooni, wife train young ladies on sustainable leadership, climate change

BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO

In their determination to encourage more women, especially young ladies from grassroots areas in leadership positions and mentor them on sustainability, culture and climate change, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and his wife, Olori Aderonke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi have commenced the 7th edition of Queen Moremi Ajasoro (QMA) initiative in Osun State.

The Queen Moremi Ajasoro initiative named after the legendary Queen Moremi aims to celebrate women in leadership, support the rights of the girl child and to encourage female education in Nigeria and Africa.

The queen made this known while addressing a press conference on the seventh edition of the Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative, which was conceived and conceptualized by His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife in 2016.

Queen Aderonke stressed the need for young persons, especially ladies to be equipped with alternative skills that would enable them to have sustainable income after graduation from tertiary institutions of learning.
According to the Vice Chairperson of House of Oduduwa Foundation and Global Ambassador of Queen Moremi Ajasoro legacy, the aim and vision of the Initiative at inception was to celebrate women in leadership to encourage more women, especially young women to take up more leadership roles in the society, to support the rights of the girl child and to also encourage and support female education in Nigeria and Africa.

Speaking on the current edition, she said no fewer than 27 young ladies from the rural areas in Osun have been selected, camped and trained on leadership, culture, sustainability and climate change.

Displaying the damsels during the press conference at the NUJ correspondents’ Chapel in Osogbo, Ooni’s wife said, “they are into make up, they are into hair making, they are into baking, accessories and we have some who are into massage. So, we know that in Nigeria, we roll out about 7,000 to 10,000 graduates every year but there is no guarantee for employment for them. So, we are teaching them this alternative skills that will enable them to have a sustainable income after graduation. It’s a pride to us and it always puts smile into His Imperial Majesty face.

“These beautiful young ladies are the ladies of the seventh edition of QMA initiative and we do it every year. The initiative has an entrepreneurship programme, it has a “say no to trafficking of women programme”, it has a mentorship programme, it has a grand programme for women who want to go into small businesses, it also has a QMA leadership and cultural pageant. It’s not like your conventional beauty pageant, it’s totally different because aside physical beauty, we also look at intelligence, they have to possess leadership skills.

“Every year, we have hundreds of women who register to take part in this cultural pageant and then we do audition and after it, we select the best out of all of them. This year, we have the best twenty-seven that we have selected. They came into camp on 27th of this month, till 4th of December. But, while they are in camp, we have various things that we teach them especially as it has to do with leadership, culture and sustainability.

“We have the UN Ambassador Yemi Olapeju to teach the girls about sustainability. It’s important that they are all aware about climate change and sustainability. It’s our moral obligation and duty to make sure that we keep and sustain the planet for generation to come and that is why His Majesty is at the forefront of enlightening the girls and educating them about importance of sustainability, halt working with things that are harmful to the planet

“They were given these by-degradable baskets made with natural things that are not harmful to the planet or to the environment. A lot of people don’t know that when we throw the plastic basket that we use, when we don’t reuse them, it takes about 1000 years before it goes back to the earth but ones like these that are made out of natural fibre is easy for the earth to absorb it.

“We are trying to produce a new generation of financially independent young women, that is one of our mission at QMA initiative and they are doing very well. Most of the young ladies you see here are serious entrepreneurs and they have so many skills. There are hairdressers, all students, some of them have graduated, but at the same time, they are into catering, they are into make up, they are into hair making, they are into baking, accessories, we have some who are into massage, so they have some been supporting as well.

“We know that in Nigeria, we roll out about 7,000 to 10,000 graduates every year but there is no guarantee for employment for them. So, we are teaching them this alternative skills that will enable them to have a sustainable income after graduation. It’s a pride to us and it always puts smile into His Imperial Majesty face.

“No financial support from government, it’s all funded by His Imperial Majesty, the Ooni of Ife. He invests heavily in youth empowerment and also when it comes to the girl child and women. You know, women are perceived as lesser arm of the society. So, he does everything he can to make sure they are uplifted, to make sure they are educated, to make sure he supports everything that concerns the rights of the girl child and women,” she said.

Also speaking, an Ambassador of the United Nations, Mrs Yemi Olapeju said not much awareness has been created about the problems of climate change in Nigeria, adding that, “you can see that lately, the global world, we have been having problems on climate change and this awareness is not well spread especially in Nigeria and I think as a Nigerian, I should be able to come home and spread this awareness on climate change. And spreading awareness on climate change, you don’t have to go to the government, you start from the grassroots. I am highly inclined with what our imperial majesty, Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi and our Queen, Aderonke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi have been doing over the years. We are looking at how the United Nations is going to deal with this initiative.”

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