Culture and religion not soothing balm to poor governance, insecurity in Nigeria  —Simileoluwa Adetula

Twenty-one-year-old Praise Simileoluwa Adetula, a student of Olabisi Onabanjo Unversity, Ogun State, leads a  civic movement, InclusiveNaija, that focuses on the role of citizens in deciding the present and future of Nigeria. The young activist, who was one of the 14 youths selected out of 2503 applicants for the Sixty Percent Of Us grant sponsored by YIAGA Africa and UNDP in this interview by YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, speaks on life as a young activist,  women and money management and  women leadership among other issues.

How easy is it to be an activist especially as a young woman?

It isn’t an easy task being an activist, it is something that comes from being passionate and having an open mindset, women activists are wrongly perceived as being stubborn, not submissive with a touch of an authoritarian attitude, while in the real sense what these women exhibit is pure doggedness, confidence and determination. I am an activist because I have a mindset to be a change maker and solution provider; I shouldn’t belong to a community and not be able to proffer solutions to problems around me.  Coming in contact with experiences of women who try to break the glass ceiling has taught me that being an activist in this part of the world isn’t a walk in the park. However, it can be made easy if we keep sharing and passing the right messages across that an activist isn’t a trouble maker but a systematically ordered problem solver.

What inspired you into activism?

What inspired me into activism and civil engagement is the desire to create  sustainable change in the mindset of Nigerians towards politics, civic engagements and leadership as a whole. My activities in civic space was  launched from my interactions with youths as a campus leader, I felt so sad at the dangerous mindset these young ones had about Nigeria leadership and the strong ideology of perceiving Nigeria as a failed nation with no hope for the future; this saddens my heart greatly. Inspired by this, I got the idea of reaching youths and teenagers; we shouldn’t only focus on the youth but take upcoming youths, ages 13 above and sensitise them with civic responsibility messages and awareness programs.

Also, seeing what happened on 20th of October (EndSars rally) and how the youths were treated fuelled my passion to be a voice to be heard and not silenced. Questions such as how can we create a safe space/society for ourselves as Nigerians? What are our rights? Do we have policies that are intrinsically beneficial to the masses? Are we not mere pawns moved around as desired by leaders? What are my civic responsibilities and rights? Were raised within me and I began advocating to those around me on the need to have good leaders who can empathize with their followers, and the only way we can get good leaders is by electing them. To make this a reality, I began volunteering my Tuesday and Friday which were lecture free to take few youths to Voters Registration centers and encouraging them to get their PVC Cards. Fortunately, I got selected for the Power of 18 civic Idea challenge to mobilize 5000 youths to register, collect their PVC and vote wisely, with support from YIAGA Africa. As at today, over 24,650 Ogun State residents across all local governments have been reached and I hope to do more in coming days ahead of 2023 general and gubernatorial election.

How easy is it to convince people in the face of cultural bias and religious sentiments?

Honestly, this is a big question with no definite route. Culture and religion are two things an average Nigerian doesn’t joke with. In fact, these two champions 80% of Nigerians criteria for choosing candidates, electing leaders and judging a fair selection, sadly over decades neither have been soothing balm to poor governance, corruption and insecurity in the country.

It isn’t easy but not impossible to convince people and have them see things from entirely different perspectives. But, the ability to establish a common ground for peaceful dialogue is key. Most of my Civic led organization activities across the 20 Local Government Areas in Ogun State covers community dialogue sessions and sensitization walk. Ethnic and religious differences does more harm than good, yet the inhumane non-conducive situation of the country makes cultural selfishness seem like a safety measure.

When we come together as one Nigeria, setting aside cultural bias and religious sentiment we will be able to make rational decisions that embrace a holistic review of other values in our so-called leaders. Until we tear off the veil of religious sentiments and cultural bias, the torch of excellence, courage, integrity, empathy, accountability, clear communication and collectively shared vision wouldn’t blaze forth and light our path towards a better tomorrow.

 Will you say women are given a chance to reach their potentials in Nigeria?

Yes, women are given chances to reach their potentials, they have stakes in decision making at certain levels. In fact, there are designated offices for women leaders; Ministry of Women Affairs etc. I think the question we should ask ourselves is what do these women do while in office? Today we struggle to push policies that advocate for women support in the workplace, menstrual policies and girl child protection policies. Yet, there is rarely a ministry where the first 3-4 tier of power lacks the presence of a female gender. We have females as deputy governors and at local government levels there are women wings. The power of a woman figure isn’t underrated rather this should be a charge to women to stop underrating themselves. Permit me to share a recorded statement from Mrs. Bamigbade a Nigerian woman in her mid-forties; “its high time we stopped wearing free Ankara to dance under the sun for these politicians, let them tell us how the cost of goods will reduce in the market and how we can make profit on goods while selling at reasonable prices to customers afterall we are all Nigerians suffering under this hard economy hardship”

What are your thoughts on women and money management? Are women good managers?

From my experiences as a SME entrepreneur, my response to this is simple and straightforward, yes; women are good managers without any bias or trying to support one gender over the other. Women are naturally gifted with the ability to serve; with little or no egoist structure, as such they tend to be good communicators, highly resilient and can multitask a lot. In fact,  multiple studies have proved women leaders to be better at engaging their team as compared to male managers, women have a thing for excellence and delivering “their best,” some males are perfectionist in nature too. Taking a look at Dora Akunyili and her excellent delivery while she was at NAFDAC, Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala–The WTO Director General, in Ogun State we have Iyalode Alaba Lawson amidst other prominent women.

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Back to the first question of women and money management; I think women display a strong practical approach to budgeting, setting scale of preference and financial priority. This skill is also evident in the popular misconception of women as lavish spenders buying unnecessary items. Women, Nigeria women especially are good at managing money which is why one aspect of poor governance we experience in our country is based on women,  women are mentioned a lot during our gender inclusive Voters education outreach at local markets; they are affected by the poor economy and high cost of goods and like my team and I encouraged them, if they can exercise their rights as responsible citizens, partake in electoral processes at all level and vote the right set of leaders, we can be sure of a better Nigeria.

Are Nigerian women really ready for leadership?

This is a slippery question whose response cannot be generalised, while most are ready for leadership some aren’t, yet some set of women are held back by fear of “unspoken/unwritten rules” that characterizes the ideology that women are meant to be silent, puppet followers and live in the shadow.

Well, the narrative is gradually revolving and I am glad to be among females championing the idea of being a supportive partners and leaders, not competitors or fight of supremacy between both genders.

Some believe that many young women today are lazy and looking for soft landing. Do you agree? 

No, I don’t. If anyone looking at the situation in the country today still says so, then something is wrong somewhere. Today, women now do almost all jobs including the energy sapping menial jobs, women now drive Danfo, take up roles as Keke Napep drivers, bus conductors and shuttle in between jobs to make a living, engineering faculties in our tertiary institutions are seeing an inflow of female undergraduates, women are now in the tech space. If they are lazy, you won’t see them there.

Can women be good leaders?

As I said earlier, it’s a game of mindset. Women can be good leaders; there are worthy examples of women leaders we across the globe.

How can women prove their worth to be seen beyond cheer leaders and sex objects?

Women can prove their worth by taking responsibility, it is high time women saw themselves as assets and not a liability or a property, to be dependently owned and treated as a tool. Let this be a charge to females in Nigeria that they are not mere tools to be used as a means to an end but as an end in themselves. Having this enlightened mindset will help Nigeria women grow beyond being cheerleaders or entertainment objects.

 What do you think about the general belief that attributes a woman’s success to sexual promiscuity and assistance from men?

I do not subscribe to this belief; neither does it still hold water in today’s society. Every woman should be encouraged to desist from playing the dependency game and men should also respect the fact that women can successful without treading this path.

Are women supporting women?

Yes, women are now supporting women.