36-years-old Olufunmi Amina was a housekeeper without hope of any other life aside cleaning peoples’ homes until she was called to clean the house of a journalist in 2021 and her life changed. In this interview with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, she speaks about abandonment, a life without any future aside from being a domestic cleaner, how the ‘Amina Olufunmi Must Be Empowered initiative’ came into being, challenges of attending a fashion school with poor communication skills and how she’s looking forward to a life of financial independence. Excerpts:
Life without hope
My story is a typical illustration of the stone which the builders rejected but has become a cornerstone and only God could have done this for me. I had no friends and had been abandoned to fate by my family members, so I had to look for a way of surviving by cleaning people’s homes though I had learnt sales of plumbing materials as a vocation, lack of capital to set up was a big problem that kept me stagnant for years and I had no one to ask for help. So I kept cleaning people’s homes for survival.
Breakthrough
My breakthrough came when I least expected it; someone recommended I clean up a home in 2021 and I went just to get small change to survive for few days as usual. I had no idea that this would mark a turning point for good in my life. I was taken to the house of a journalist, Funke Olaode, who had heaps of newspapers that had accumulated over the years and needed someone to arrange and dispose them. When she saw me, she doubted I had the ability to do the work because I looked fragile and, out of genuine concern, she started asking questions and maybe because she saw my commitment, she placed me on a salary and started giving me daily stipend for transportation and food. But she continued asking questions on what I want to do with my life and the fact that selling plumbing materials is capital intensive, that was when she started talking to people she felt could help and that was how the ‘Amina Olufunmi Must Be Empowered initiative’ was set up by Madam Olaode. I later learnt she spoke to a former Managing Director of Accenture and current chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr Niyi Yusuf, who advised that I should be enrolled to acquire skills which would last me a lifetime. That was the point. I also said I will learn fashion designing. She also approached the Ibeji Foundation founder, Alhaji Rafiu Adisa Ebiti and within two days, I was enrolled in a fashion school and also placed on a monthly stipend of N20, 000 since 2021. The Ibeji Foundation also paid for my accommodation and bought me a sewing machine and other sewing materials needed for training.
Fashion School experience
It wasn’t an easy start because I had issues when I first got there; I had poor communication skills that made it difficult for comprehension in a big fashion school like Hana Tee Unisex Fashion Designer and it was obvious that the Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Hannah Makanjuola, was skeptical about taking me in as a student because of my look but she decided to give me a trial and today, I am the 44th graduate from her fashion school. Because of lack of education, it wasn’t easy to communicate with me but as time went on, I got better because she was patient with me and Madam Olaode also continued to take my case as a personal project.
Help from various quarters
The management of NASFAT Agency for Saka and Sadaqat (NAZAS), an offshoot of NASFAT, an Islamic-based organisation, is part of my story. The agency bought sewing equipment worth over N600,000, including industrial stoning machines, sewing machines and whipping machines. Alhaji Ebiti, aside sponsoring my two and a half years of training also paid N300,000 for a shop while the CEO of Caverton Offshore Support Group, Mr Olabode Makanjuola, through his company’s corporate social responsibility, supported me generously, just because of Madam Olaode.
Lesson
I am grateful to all those who came to my aid; dreams do come true if we persevere, no matter how long the journey is, though it isn’t easy. I finished secondary school in 2009, then trained as an apprentice with a building materials merchant at Ijanikin, Lagos State, between 2010 and 2012 but my parents were financially handicapped. After graduation, there was no money to establish. In the process of raising funds, I did menial jobs, including being a maid at a restaurant in Oyo town.
My financial woes persisted until I met a destiny helper in Madam Olufunke Olaode who turned my life around. And today, from doing menial jobs, I am now a fashion entrepreneur, I promise to make an impact in the Nigerian fashion space through the help of God, so I can give back to others who are going through what I went through. I encourage people going through challenges not to give up but to continue believing that there is light at the end of the tunnel if they hold on. And also, they should not be in a hurry or use a bad attitude to chase helpers away.
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