I believe every woman has a right to fulfil her dreams —Abimbola Okutinyang

Abimbola Okutinyang is the Chief Executive Officer of Bims Living Garden and the founder of Connecting Hearts Initiative, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) that focuses on rehabilitating sex workers. In this interview by TAYO GESINDE, she speaks about Climate Change and why she is interested in the welfare of sex workers.

Why I studied Botany

I didn’t want to do Botany at all. I actually wanted to study Medicine because I really wanted to be a medical doctor but I did the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination four times but I never made the cut off mark for medicine. I later got admission to study Botany. Out of the four years spent in the university, the first two years, I didn’t like the course but when I realised that if I continue with the way I was going, I would end up with a Third Class, I had to quickly sit up and with the help of my lecturers, I was able to face the remaining two years and came out with a good grade.

The challenges I faced

Initially when I started Bims Living Garden in 1991, I started out with the horticultural aspect, at that point in time, there was not much emphasis about nature and plant generally so, I started what I will call corporate gardening and I used to go from banks to banks to tell them they need plants in their offices. I had to tell them the value of the plant that it breathes out oxygen and they will have more oxygen in their environment which will make the staff to be more relaxed. It actually was quite interesting because since it was quite new, a lot of people wondered why a young girl will be going around trying to convince young people to put plants in their offices instead of looking for a paid employment. In a way, that gave me favour, a lot of people listened to me out of curiosity and started buying my plant. I was the gardener; I wore my lab coat and tended the garden.

On how I am coping with the competition

The thing about competition is that it is very healthy. It helps you to evolve into something else.  What we have decided to do is that though we are still planting flowers and getting people to do gardens, we decided to move on to helping people create healthy plant life relationship and that is planting trees in their environment. We went round to secondary schools in Oyo State and did a campaign; “Plant a tree and save the earth.” We went to about 40 secondary schools and planted trees there. That eventually got us to win a grant on my NGO platform to do more. We were awarded certain amount of money to dig wells in 12 secondary schools, plant trees for them, prepare nursery and start a Climate Change Club. That is still ongoing. We have done the first part which is digging the wells and have planted some trees. We just evolved into creating awareness for environmental management instead of just staying on in the competition.

On Connecting Hearts Initiatives

The NGO is basically about empowering women physically, spiritually and socially.

We have an outreach arm to under privilege women and our focus is with sex workers so, over the years, we go to the brothel to give them hope and let them know they don’t have to do what they are doing, they have a choice. A lot of them have poverty stories and said they were lured into the profession while some were initiated into it and found it difficult to break loose of the bondage. We go to them to let them know that they can actually have a better life and make money genuinely. Over the years, we have reached out to about ten girls who are now on their own and have their families. We also do a quarterly medical outreach at the brothel and we also have a shelter for them. A lot of them said they wanted to leave but we realise that they couldn’t just leave so we try to be patient with them and be their friends. We call them occasionally, visit them and pray with them. We meet once every week.

Combining career with the home front

Interestingly, my kids are now grown. Two are in the university and the last born who is 13 year-old is in the boarding house, so, I have more time to myself. My husband too travels a lot but when he is home, I soft pedal.  I believe every woman has a right to fulfil her dreams because when you don’t have a satisfied woman, you have a highly unbalanced home. They will feel frustrated and lash out on their children and husband. My advice to young women is, pursue your dream but make sure you have quality time set out for the family. When my kids were growing up, I didn’t allow the maid to bathe them, I did it myself, took them to school and picked them at closing hour. Had pockets of memorable time with them and take them out regularly. They will love that and you won’t miss out on their childhood.

On the issue of climate change

We decided to give back to the society and started planting trees seven years ago. We just took responsibility as Bims Living Garden. Through it, we got a grant and we were able to do things for some schools. We want to move further by creating awareness for people because they don’t care about their surroundings. We want to make more news in the media that people need to wake up. You don’t need to wait for a Tsunami to wake you up. The heat is terrible. Never before have we had people using sun screen in Nigeria but now everybody is buying it. We want to encourage people that when they are having their birthday parties, they can decide to go to a school and plant some trees or plant it in their neighbourhoods.

The climate change is real, all the Tpsunami that is happening is as a result of climate change. If you fall one tree, plant two back but people fall old trees and don’t bother to plant another. Any occasion you have, bring tree planting to play, that is the way we can have a cooler environment. By the time individuals start planting trees, it will eventually get to the government. It is not just about trees alone, it is also about conserving energy. People leave home with all the lights on or radio blaring. When you do, you are wasting energy, it will go into the atmosphere and affect the ozone layer. When you are at home put off all lights and don’t waste water because you are using energy to pump the water.

Also for us women, all these leather bags we are using, snake skins, animal skins, they are killing animals which is also degenerating the environment. We should use polyester bags instead so that we can preserve our environment. We need to make noise about these things in Africa otherwise they will come and rape us off again. I believe it is about one person reaching another person, it will catch on. I have heard that the vice president said our problem is not climate change but food but they are intertwined. If the weather is bad, you can’t plant, the crops get burnt, and pests are everywhere and everything degenerates. I really hope very soon people will get involved in environmental conservation.

How to empower the girl-child

It starts from the home. What values are parents instilling in the female children? In grooming children, are they making the girl child feel like a second class citizen? Are you one of the mothers who your daughter is in the kitchen, while your son is playing PS 4? That is where the problem comes from. From home, the girl child is made to feel that she is the one to do all the work, while her brother crosses his legs. I want to encourage and beg parents that we are all equal before God and we should be treated equally. Mothers should get the boys involved in house chores and going to the market so that the female child can feel better. Once a female child is given the same level of education as her male counterpart then she is more confident. Parents should be more assertive to the girl child; they should endorse and empower them. Then, they will be confident in themselves and won’t feel vulnerable and be easy prey for men.