Kwara State first lady... Plush

Meeting with the First Lady of Kwara State, Her Excellency, Mrs Omolewa Ahmed will interest anybody. Cool, calm and collected are three perfect words I can use for her. 

She is so humble and down to earth. The first few minutes I spent with her, she made me feel so at home. Rather than bask in the euphoria of being the first lady of Kwara State, she constantly and repeatedly acknowledges the extravagant grace bestowed upon her by God.

As the wife of the Executive Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, she is doing so much for the wonderful people of Kwara State. She is also the founding trustee of the LEAH CHARITY FOUNDATION, an organization which is out to empower the less privileged, and put smile on the faces of people. Going from street to street, community to community, district to district, and Local Government to Local Government, transversing the length, breadth and width of the entirety of Kwara State, with the same message… HOPE AND A BETTER LIFE FOR EVERYONE.

The goodwill she enjoys keeps growing in leaps and bounds. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Mrs Omolewa Ahmed.

INTERVIEW

Plush; You need no introduction ma, so please tell us about yourself.

H.E; My name is Omolewa Yetunde Akinleye Ahmed, I was born a couple of years ago in the ancient city of Ibadan. I was privileged to attend the International School, at the University of Ibadan, then I moved on to the prestigious St Theresa’s College. Then I proceeded to the Kwara State Polytechnic, where I had my O.ND, followed by my H.N.D, then I went for my Post Graduate as well, all in Banking and Finance, that was at the Bayero University, Kano. I am married to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, and I am blessed with a lot of children. I am a Christian, and I work with the LEAH FOUNDATION.

Plush; You are doing so much with the LEAH CHARITY FOUNDATION, can you tell us how the whole thing began?

H.E; well, I will say LEAH FOUNDATION has always been a part of me. I have always been in the helps ministry, even when I was much younger from my primary school days, I’ve always been compassionate, I cannot watch people suffer, I cannot just close my eyes when things are not right, when people are in pain. I remember I had a friend - we are still friends, she is a sickle cell patient, whenever she was on admission as far back as then, I will sit by her hospital bed, hold her hands, and we go through the pain together. So LEAH for me is just my purpose for living, what God has created me for.

Plush; about the Cancer awareness program, what ignited your interest in that?

H.E; It came to me as a God given assignment, but I was scared because of what it entails, I thought it was unimaginable. Then I had two very personal experiences, I lost a very close sister who is like my mother’s first daughter, then I lost a friend who housed me when I was in Kwara Poly, we were ‘friends like sisters’, I lost her to breast cancer 2 years ago, so that really spurred me into action for the sensitization. These two people close to me are  educated, so it’s not like they are not enlightened, but because we don’t talk about it, people don’t really know much about it, so we had to make some noise about it. And a lot of people came up to us, because we let people know it is not contagious, and we also corrected the stigmatization; the fact that someone has it does not mean a death sentence. We are spreading the news, prevention is better that cure, we want to immunize our children against cervical cancer, we want to teach our girls self breast examination, we are also setting up screening centers where people can get this screening done at a very minimal rate.

Plush; - Cuts in; which means it’s an on-going campaign and not a one off thing.

H.E; Yea, it’s an ongoing campaign, after the Ramadan fasting, we will open the 10 centers, I have gone to Nine LGs on massive advocacy, and we will keep talking about it because it is for the good of our people.

Plush; then being a role model to a lot of Nigerian youths, what advice do you have for them?

H.E; *laughs*. I’m also a youth myself. Well from my life experiences, one thing is glaring, that irrespective of where you are born, or the opportunities you had in life, not minding the advantages that you might have had, don’t look at the disadvantages around you, but set your mind on a goal; this is where I am coming from.

Plush; what is your philosophy of life?

H.E; My philosophy of life is live and let others live. If you have a little excess of something, then it’s not meant for you, that means you should be a blessing to others.

Plush; being a very busy woman with lots of meetings and deadlines on your plate, how do you get so much done in 24hours?

H.E; It is all by the grace of God, God has given me men who appreciate my passion, who feel my heartbeat, sometimes we think together and act together. I believe I enjoy so much grace from God, He has given me the vision, and He also made the provision.