Q: Please tell us about yourself
I am who I am. I don't know how other people see me. I have my ups and downs like everybody else in life, and so far, I've been able to cope with several challenges that have come my way, and I hope I can continue to manage my life the way... the best way I can. Hmmm ... Really, that's a question one can't answer easily.
Q: What are your biggest strengths and what are your biggest weaknesses
Again, it is other people who can talk about your biggest strengths. But, um, ordinarily... again, I think I am who I am. I used to, when I was much younger, I used to work hard. I faced challenges. I had opportunities which I took up, and generally, I must say that I like to associate with people. I can be quite strict, and I was when I was much younger. I was strict with my younger ones, my children, and um... maybe sometimes, I can lose my temper with people - like everybody else. Like I say, I don't suffer fools. So, that's me!
Q: What is your typical day like now
Well, like the other person, I don't get up to pray in the morning that's out of the question. I just get up, say, 'thank you Lord for the nights, and may He guide us throughout the day.' I go to bath dress for the day. Since I'm no longer employed I'm not employable, I roll to the sitting room to have breakfast. And with my husband, we can spend an hour or else so having breakfast since there's nothing else for the day most of the time. Well, when I was younger, the situation was much different.


Q: How did you start your day when you first started at work
Oh {laughs}, when I first started working. I'm afraid I'm not one of the very prayerful people. If I feel like reading my bible, it can be any time of the day, not necessarily in the night. Although, when we were young and we were at home, my father will make sure that everybody wakes up around 6 for Morning Prayer, and he'll conduct the Morning Prayer. Sometimes we sing, read the bible and then pray before anything else. Well, that was at the family level. But growing up, I'm afraid I didn't stick to that.
Q: How was your early life growing up, your days as a teenager
It was quite interesting because that's where I will now refer to your own people (addressing the interviewer). I grew up mainly with my mother's family. Although my father's family was there, but they were not quite close, as close to my father's family as with my mother's. And as you know, my mother's family well, the same mother with hers. I think there were how many of them? 4 others of the same mother with her and then 2 others from the second wife. That was, 7 of them.
My early life, there were my mother had 6 siblings. Four others from her mother and 2 others half brother and sister. And we were a happy and close family. The nearest person to me in age was, Femi Abiola, who was the firstborn of my oldest aunt, Mrs Abiola. So I was closest to her in the family.

Although, you know, we all used to work. We used to all play together until later as time went on. Of course, everybody went their own separate ways, and picked up different social lives. But as family, we were we were close. And when I was, growing up and I was in a secondary school, I used to spend holidays with my uncle. Chief Esan. He was a policeman in different locations. When he was in Lagos, I spent time with them in Ibadan, in Akure and so on. And a little bit with my younger uncle. We called him brother Sunday. He was Sunday.

My mother was an Esan together with her own siblings. So it was, quite a happy family until, disaster started striking. Whether it was, I don't know. People in fact, maybe there was more to it than we knew, but as far as we were concerned, that was just part of life because we lost, we started losing people among that, grandchildren generation.

So we started experiencing as I said disasters in our family. I think the first person we lost, if I can remember in which order, was our cousin Ladi Abiola, was the first person to die in our family in that family and he was, electrocuted at work. He was working in NTA in Abeokuta, and he was electrocuted. Then soon after that, we lost my sister, Mrs Adeoye, to cancer. Then not too long after, I think we lost Femi Abiola. She was now Mrs Ajijola and she died. All these people I'm saying belong to my own generation and that's why it was very painful. So just like that and there were still like, 1 or else else 2 more people after them. So that was how that time was. So I'll go to your next question.

Q: What made you choose to be in the career you are in today
Okay. At school, I was quite good in, Maths, which would have come from arithmetic anyway. Maths and the Science subjects. I didn't like Arts at all. I'm not sure I could have coped with any Art subjects as a career, but I liked Science. But when I was in Queens School, they didn't offer all the science, subjects. They offered, Biology, of course, Maths and later when I was in Form 4, there were, I think, 4 or else else 5 of us who are very good in Maths, and we were recommended to do Additional Maths. So I did Additional Maths and then, Biology, I think some Chemistry and General Science, which, of course, was not enough to do any Science Course at that time as such. But before we finished School Sat in 1959, I came to Queens College, Lagos to sit for the HSC exams, entrance exam. And then they said the Nigerian colleague that I mentioned earlier also, I searched for the exam for Advanced Level, And my father rejected my coming to Lagos because he didn't like me young girls coming to Lagos without any supervision. Any case, I ended up in Ibadan. And, in addition, the College, Nigerian College offered a crash program for girls who didn’t do Science in school. There were 12 of us, picked from different schools all over the Western Region and I was one of them. We had a crash program in Ibadan, a Nigerian College. Physics, Biology, Maths. And since I had already done some General Science, I had some basic knowledge of Physics. And, luckily, I did very well in my Advanced Level exam.

I was able to move into the Degree Course. Again, the university was very new. The Leader in the west at that time, chief Awolowo, was going to pour everything he had into the University to make it the best. Just as he had been doing in other areas. So University of Ife was very good. They had lecturers from the other universities and even from abroad, Nigerians, to come there to teach. So as to give it the sort of level.
I also had admission to UI but there was a crop of students from the Nigerian College that, refused to go to UI. And then in my own case, I was more or else else less settling into Engineering. Actually, I don't remember how I came to be interested in Engineering because all my role models at that time, no one was an Engineer, not even the men, let alone women. But, in that 1962, UI, University of Ibadan, was offering, Physical Science and I wanted to do Engineering and Ife was offering Applied Physics. Now Applied Physics has more practical applications than Physical Physics, which was being offered in Ibadan. So I decided also to stay. So these are some of the reasons why I stayed in Ife.

I think the University of Ife used the campus of the Nigerian College of Arts because government decided to convert all those colleges into universities. There were 3 of them. There was a Nigerian College of Arts in Ibadan, one in Ibadan. There was one in Kaduna and there was one in Enugu. So the 3 College of Arts were converted.

Ibadan was converted to the University of Ife. It started from the campus of the Nigerian College. In Kaduna, which was actually Zaria, the Amadu Bello University started on the campus of the Nigerian College, Zaria. But the Nigerian College in Enugu did not become a university. It became, a College of Technology and that's what I think it still is now, I’m not sure.
So then in the Nigerian College before, just before it became the university, when, the government started recruiting teachers. There was a Doctor Williams, Victor Williams, an Engineer that came into the department and he was because he was an Engineer, he was teaching us Applied Physics and that increased my interest And maybe I could eventually become an Engineer.

And all this, when I told my dear father, he rejected it completely. But he's never seen where a woman would be an Engineer. And then Electrical Engineering, am I going to be climbing poles, and what exactly am I talking about? So he rejected it completely. I said I couldn't do Engineering.
So I had to do Applied Physics between myself and that lecturer. And I said and he directed me. I applied to the British Institution of Electrical Engineers. And, at that time, the institution, after your Applied Physics degree, that, institution will, sort of assess your degree qualification and then decide whether they can take you or else else not. So in assessing my own, I was exempted from most of the papers that candidates, took to become graduates of that institution the institution of Electrical Engineers.
So I was exempted from most of the parts. I sat, the exams for only the last part. And with that, I became an Engineer. By the time I was sitting this exam, I had already graduated in Physics from the University of Ife, so that was how I became an Engineer.

Q: Did the degree you did in school directly help you with your chosen career
Yes definitely. In fact, that was the degree was towards my career.

Q: What was your first job
A: What, my first job after my degree. Yes. Uh-huh. In those days, before you graduated, even before your university, we used to take, what we call vacation jobs. You know, whether you people did it in your own time. It's not internship, actually. We just called it vacation jobs because we vacated in June and didn't resume until September. Mhmm. And, nobody could afford to sit at home.

So one of the times I worked in Akure. There was a year I worked in Owo, in Saint Catherine's College for the 3 months of the holidays. My mother was in Akure. She was a Nurse in the General Hospital. So I was in Owo and I used to come home to her every weekend. Then another year, I worked in Akure itself in the civil service, in the accounting department because one of her cousins, Mr Ogundipe, was in the Western Nigeria civil service and was in Akure. And so he got me a job for the 3 months, in his department, Accounting.

These were paid jobs. Yeah. They were paid jobs. They were paid jobs. Another one I did was in the Secretariat in Ibadan, Ministry of Works, when your uncle (Chief Esan) was in Ibadan. I stayed with them for the 3 months and I worked in the secretariat in Ibadan, Ministry of Works.
So those were the different places. I did, vacation jobs, which, looking back now was quite interesting. Mhmm.

After my degree, I worked in WNTV, WNBS at that time. And, I decided to go there because I was already introduced to my current husband. They had linked us anyway. Now that was done by a friend, Dr Williams. And I decided to at least see what his own life was about. So I decided to take a job in WNTV, which was quite okay. I spent a year there. After the year, I went, back to the university as an Assistant Lecturer. And from there, I got a sponsorship to go and do a Master's Degree. I got admission into University of North Wales in Bangor, UK.
Q: What was it like getting your first salary pay cheque
A: It wasn't anything exciting because as I said, I'd already gotten what you could call so many paid jobs first salary. Maybe the very first one, people say that they give to their father for blessings and prayers, that sort of thing. No, I didn't give, there was no such ceremony in my family. But what I did was to decide to be helping them with part of my salary. I decided I would give them so much every month, once I started working.
I decided I would give them so much every month, you know, once I started working.

Q: Did you have a mentor in your early days at work
A: If I talk, my mentor in college was Doctor Williams. Yes. I think he must have been my mentor in WNTV, but I wouldn't even call him a mentor. I don't really remember, maybe one Mr dare. He too was an Engineer in WNTV and an Ijesha man, so I looked up to him. He knew a number of things and he just took me as a sister. He was quite nice to me.
Q: What is your current or your last job
A: My last job was consulting. Right now, I have no job. Yeah. I went into consulting in, 1970. Because, when I came back from abroad to go back to the university, they had already moved the campus from Ibadan to Ile Ife and so I couldn't continue for a long time with them because I had small children. Part of my family was in Ibadan and there was no way I wanted to split my family. So I had to resign from the university as a lecturer. And, for some time, I couldn't get any job because.

The civil service of Western Nigeria would not employ a woman Engineer. I don't think they ever heard of any such person. So they did not, I didn't have an easy time with them. Luckily, Mr Dare, I talked about earlier and 2 or else 3 of his friends had decided to start a consulting firm, which they then invited me to join. All of them were still in service. So they were putting me through, so that I will be the one to work there. So that was how I came into consultancy. Cause for government work, nobody would have a female Engineer. So that's it.
Q: How do your balance your work and your life
A: Uh-huh. That's a good one. Going into consultancy is very, very demanding. And you just have to do it or else else you don't do it. And the men, of course, did not give you any chance to do anything except you want to perform at your best. Other consultants, of course, who are men, they used to say, why did why did I need any job or else else any work? After all, I'm a married woman and somebody is feeding me. So to break into what I will call the world of men, it was not funny. You had to be better than most of them to be recognized by any client. So that was hard.

I had to depend mainly on my house camp, even for the children. Because, I had to attend meetings. I had to work in my office. Many times I had to meet deadlines and nobody is going to say, they can't meet you, they say you must do this by tomorrow. Everybody is going to say because you're a woman. You know, therefore, you can't do. So you just have to do proper work life balance. Luckily, I would say luckily because we got quite a number of people with us. We've always had many people living with me. Both from my husband's side and from my own side.

This, came from the war because during the civil war, some of my in laws were locked behind, as they say, behind the wall lines, and they couldn't cross to the West and so, some of the children we hard in Loyola College, Saint Teresa's College, then my own, siblings. As soon as I came from abroad, my sister, let me say sisters and brothers. I think my father just took a deep breath and said, thank God. And one after the other, they were being passed to me. So at any given time, we had a full house. So bringing up of the children was not a problem. Even if I was at home, most of the time the children didn't even relate to me. They had all these, younger people, much younger people to look after them. So maybe in a way I was lucky. But it was difficult because I couldn't, as they say, we couldn't balance.

Looking after all the children, meant that you didn't have any extra time to play with because you were paying their fees, feeding them. When I came back from Dublin, I transferred to Dublin when I got married. So coming back, in addition to these young people, my mother-in-law was also in the house. When she left, her daughter joined us. It had its own advantages, in that the children could relate to them and I had enough time for my own, to develop my career.
Q: How do you manage stress
A: I get a lot of stress. I don't know how I manage it.
We watch a lot of TV and that came again from my husband's job because he was in the NTA and he was General Manager before he came to Lagos. Before then, he got promoted to Chief Engineer, We weren't even married at that time but if I went to see him or else he came to see me, we were more or else else less glued to the TV. Just as he is behaving now. This is not right, this fellow is not speaking properly, this program should not have been on at this time. So that has been his life and therefore it's been part of my own life right from then and if you can say, that's part of our own stress management.

Stress management, I realised from my school days. I will read until late till 1 AM, but I wasn't an early riser. I will wake up maybe 7. That was when my life will start. Their are people who used to wake up at 5 or else even 6 and get ready. So I will wake and by the time I'm ready to go out, it will be 8 o'clock. So it was an interesting period. Thank God most of the people who lived with us at that time are now living on their own and are making good.

Q: What are your hobbies
A: I used to sew, actually. Mhmm, because my mother used to sew quite a lot. She trained as a nurse in the Wesley Guild Hospital and in those days, to become a good, housewife, you must, learn something else. So she said, she went to learn sewing in Ibadan after her qualification as a nurse in Ilesha and she did a 6 months nursing course before her marriage. So she used to sew quite a bit and taught us sewing. In fact, in those days, because married women, Legally married women that is married wives, were not allowed to go out to work, so to go out to earn a salary. So she used to do a lot of nursing, sewing uniforms for school children. And that was where I learned sewing. And I used to sew quite a lot. I had a machine.

I liked it. I liked sewing in the early days. But, as work started getting the better of me and then the children were growing up, I slowly dropped it. Even this cooking, I used to like cooking. Mhmm.
But, something happened in Ibadan, which I'm not going to disclose here. And I decided I was going to drop cooking. I wasn't going to cook anymore. So, so those were my 2 hobbies at that time. So now I really don't have any problem. Maybe I will even say that maybe watching TV now is, I don't know. Although even the TV I watch is usually mainly News. Uh-huh. We don't watch plays or else else any of those things, even sports. It's usually mainly news. So that's it.
Q: What is your ideal vacation
A: It has to be staying at home. If we are abroad, we go out but you just stay around the area. So a vacation now is just that. That's why now I struggle for us to go abroad once a year, so as to break from the usual routine and see whether we can relax a bit. That's it, because otherwise, you’re in the house. Even when we say we are watching TV, each person has something you are working on. Yes alright. So there is never really any relaxation as such.
Q: Your favorite food, dessert and Snack
A: Not really bread? Maybe yam. I like yam. I like good yam with egg stew.

How about dessert?
I hardly eat desserts. But if I'm going to eat desserts, what I like is a Cream Caramel, which we don't make in this house. But anytime I go out and I have to eat dessert, I will take Cream Caramel.

How about snacks?
If I have 1 or else else 2 biscuits, that's all. Maybe with water or else else something.

Q: How about when you were young, have they changed a lot
A: We did not have any. If you have food to eat, you would be happy. Not to talk of favorites. Family snack when I was young! LOL
Q: Your favorite place in the world outside Nigeria
A: I’ve been to so many places. To start looking for my favorite now, really, I don’t know. Mhmm. Yeah. My favorite place, Okay, London
Q: How did you meet your Spouse
A: I already mentioned it earlier
Q: How many children do you have
A: 4 children, two girls and two boys
Q: Did you want more
A: No.
Q: Did any of them follow in your footsteps, career wise
A: No
Q: How does that make you feel
A: Makes me feel nothing, I feel quite okay.
Q: What do you think of people that force their children to do what they want
A: I'm sure it has its own merits because there are times that I wished one of my own had taken up my career so that passing whatever I have on would have been just automatic.
Q: What is your favorite time of the day
A: Mhmm. Maybe morning. Somehow, I don't like nights. I don't know why.

Q: What experiences have you had in your life that you’d say have shaped you to be the person you are today
A: Oh. I don't know.
Perseverance, tolerance, mhmm and also patience
Q: What one thing do wish you could go back in time and do all over again
A: Nothing
Q: What are the best qualities you look for in people
A: I like intelligence people. Intelligence and patience.
Q: How is your relationship with God
A: Perfect. I don't think I will still be here if God is not patient with me. The relationship with God is fine, at least from my own side. I hope from God's side it will be the same.
Q: If you could pick 3 people to have a conversation with either living or dead, who would they be
A: My husband, my mother and my friend from school Agnes Uduebor. I picked her because we used to talk and talk

Q: Beef or Chicken or Fish
A: Chicken
Q: Hot or Cold weather
A: Neither
Q: Morning, Afternoon or Night
A: Morning
Q: Sweet or spicy foods
A: Sweet
Q: Read, Watch TV or Listen to music to relax
A: TV
Q: Iphone or Android
A: How do I know, what's the difference.
Q: Native, Formal or Casual clothes
A: Casual
Q: Window seat or aisle on a plane
A: Yeah. Window
Q: Europe, Asia or North America to visit
A: North America. That's where I have people.
Q: Going out or staying home
A: Staying home

Q: Please can you give some advice to the young people coming behind you
A: To be patient and live your life intelligently as much as possible.