Queens hold conference to discuss role in national development

History was made last week when about 120 women who are wives of traditional rulers converged on the Ile Oduduwa, the Palace of the Ooni of Ife, Ile Ife in Osun Isun State to commemorate the Black Women’s History Month and deliberate on their role in national development.

The conference, which was a first of its kind, had the queens under the tag Royal Queens come together to rub minds on the theme “The Impact of Oloris (Royal Queens) In National Development” and examine how impactful the queens have been in their kingdoms.

The conference, which held on March 30, 2023, was organised by Olori Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, and Olori Janet Afolabi, under the Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative and Olori Janet Afolabi Foundation.

In her welcome speech, Olori Ronke Ogunwusi who is the founder of Africa Fashion Week London and Nigeria Fashion Week as well as the CEO of Adire Textile hub, said, “Today for the first time in history, we are coming together to see how we can all work together on different projects to impact our communities. She invited the queens to take advantage of the adire training which is free and she has trained over 500 women and youths.

Olori Janet Afolabi in her keynote address said there are so many challenges in our communities today, adding that “Our husbands, the Kings, are in the forefront of solving those problems. But we should also rise up and support them.”

She encouraged the queens to identify the problems in the domains, do a problem analysis and then strategise on how to solve them, adding that if queens make an impact with their projects in their communities, such impacts can be replicated at the national level.

She further encouraged the queens to start small, noting that nothing is too small for them to start with.

Narrating how she personally teaches English Language for free and also feed the students with snacks, Olori Janet said she started with 10 students but has grown beyond her expectations.

“Today I have over 150 students. I also empowered some set of traders with N20,000 each and asked them to pay back 5000 naira monthly so we can give the money to others. And among the traders, none of them defaulted. They all paid the loan back and on time too.

“This means that you do not need huge amounts of money to impact people,” Olori Afolabi noted.

The special guest of honour and wife of Osun State governor, Erelu Ngozi Adeleke, in her goodwill remarks, commended Olori Ronke Ogunwusi and Olori Janet Afolabi for organising the event.

She said she is committed to supporting and empowering women to develop Osun state. “I am ready to collaborate with you whenever you need me,” she concluded.

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