Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom and Nigeria, is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of IA-Foundation, a UK and Nigerian registered educational charity, set up to transform lives through education in Nigeria and Africa. In this interview by SEGUN KASALI, she speaks about her work, out-of-school children, and other issues.
How would you describe your childhood and teenage experiences?
I was born in Guys Hospital in London when my parents were studying in the United Kingdom. My dad is an engineer and my mum is a social worker. They are well-educated and instilled same in me. I am the second child and the only girl, among three siblings. I grew up in the Brixton area of London till we moved back to Nigeria in 1972 and lived in the Pedro and Palm-Groove area of Lagos.
I attended Girls Secondary Grammar School, Bariga (now Eva Adelaja Girls Secondary Grammar School), where my studious nature made them appoint me as the library prefect. I loved playing with figures. So, Mathematics and Accounting were my best subjects. No prizes for guessing I passed all my WAEC and JAMB in flying colours and was admitted to study Accounting at the Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University).
Growing up, the late Bola Kuforiji was my role model, and I aspired to be like her in the accountancy profession and the corporate world.
What stage of your studentship would you describe as striking and why?
In the 1985/86 academic year, I scored the highest JAMB score in the social sciences faculty at Olabisi Onabanjo University. I was a very brilliant student. I have an award named after me at every graduation for the best accounting student in the social science faculty. This is to motivate the current students to aspire higher and excel in the accounting profession.
Which of your parental traits do you think is more dominant?
My mum. She is a very brilliant, strong, prayerful, determined, caring, and loving woman. She is the first child of her father. She has 31 siblings and gives them purposeful leadership. She believes anything is possible with prayers and determination. So, I think I have taken some of her traits.
Were there indelible memories during your youthful years?
In university, I lived in a flat with six other ladies who impacted my life positively, and over 34 years since we left university, we are still best of friends and still in touch. Courtesy of my mum — I was a member of the YWCA teenagers (Y-Teens) and girls’ guide. This made a huge impact on me. It instilled discipline in me.
What were your ambitions/aspirations as a young lady?
I wanted to be a chartered accountant and become a professional. I wanted to be a boardroom guru and a philanthropist.
What would you have loved to become if not what you are doing now?
My parents wanted me to be a medical doctor, but I was not very good with science subjects. I decided to study what I had a flair for — Accountancy.
Did you meet the expectations?
Accounting is a very tough course. I had to be focused because I knew that after my degree, I had to take professional exams. So, I had to be studious and had the insight that I had to do ICAN immediately after graduating. After university, I travelled to the UK with my husband and had to do the UK qualification. The seriousness of the course adjusted my social lifestyle. Hence, I had to focus on my studies. I had always liked to be a well-rounded person and not ‘efiko’. I like to multi-task, and I am quite religious. I always made sure to attend church on campus. I socialised a lot but not as much as I wanted to.
Your university must have been interesting then.
I recall that I was actively involved in campus politics. I was the president of the Accounting Students Association. The highlight of my university was completing my dissertation presentation and I had an A. Then, I recalled scoring high in JAMB, I chose Accounting as my first choice and Economics as my second choice. But, my father said accounting was too tough for a lady and told me to choose Economics. I had a big issue with my dad and he threatened that if I studied accounting, he would not pay my fees in the university and he did not pay. It was my mum who paid my fees.
What is your perception of a female Nigerian president?
It will be the best thing that can happen to any country. Women are more empathetic, purposeful, supportive, passionate, gentle, hard-working, kind, nurturing and amiable.
What do you think are the limitations surrounding your gender?
The responsibility of child-bearing has set many women back in their careers. The inability of some men to handle successful women and the resentment, envy, and jealousy that ensues from that. Prejudices — that a woman’s education ends in the kitchen. Cultural barriers and perception — that a woman was created for, and is only good for, childbearing.
What are the probable solutions?
Education, re-orientation, awareness, family, friendly policies, and support from the male gender.
Your belief system?
My belief is, If you shine a torch in someone’s pathway, you will share a part of that light. I believe in pulling people behind me up. There is a saying that leadership is about followership. You need to develop those coming behind you. The motto of my foundation is ‘enabling true education’. They are the future generation and we must ensure we equip them so that their future will be bright. It is about the next generation.
What birthed the IA-Foundation?
When I passed my exams with flying colours and gained admission to the university to study accountancy, my father was not very happy with me. So, he refused to pay my school fees. But my mum saved me from being an out-of-school adult, by selling her clothes and jewellery to pay for my university education.
So I want to also put something back by ensuring no child misses out on education. Also, because Nigeria has too many out-of-school children, which is fuelling insecurity and poverty, I felt I had to do something about it, rather than being an armchair critic.
How do you think Nigeria can do better with your platform?
IA-Foundation was set up to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. To give them hope, make them realise their potential, make them economically active, take them and their family out of poverty, and improve social mobility and human capital indices. I believe this is a critical silver bullet that will help Nigeria improve its trajectory of all indices and metrics. It will also ensure we have a vantage position in the comity of nations.
Would you consider funding as a major setback for your industry?
Once a year in the UK, we have what we call the charity fundraising gala event. It is usually a big event. People pay for the ticket and donate heavily. We had one on the 18th of March this year and the total donation was about 24,000 pounds which in Nigeria is about 25 million.
We have people who are paying regularly as donors. I have a circle of friends — ICAN, the Old Students’ Association, and so on. I have a network of friends I encourage to donate even if it is one pound. We have a lot of standing orders going through our banks. Even in Nigeria, we have donors. We get both naira and pounds donations, and we use that to operate.
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