By: GELE AGBAI

It is common in Nigeria for her first ladies (wives of their leaders be they president or governors of states or sometimes local government council chairmen) to float pet projects while the tenures of their husbands lasted.

We have had Better Life for Rural Women floated by the wife of the country’s unelected president, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB); and Family Support Programme (FSP) founded by wife of former Head of State Late General Sani Abacha.

At the state level, wives of governors were not left out.  In Imo State during the reign of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, his wife, Nkechi floated ‘She Needs A Roof Project (SNARP) while Nkechi’s predecessor, Chioma Ohakim floated Empowerment for Women and Youth Initiative, EWAYI.

But one thing that rings true of these pet projects of first ladies is that they did not survive the exit of their husbands and the first ladies from office. In fact, while floating a pet project is common among the first ladies, the uncommon fact about these pet projects is that they die or are discontinued immediately the first ladies were swept out of office alongside their husbands.

But there are first ladies who do uncommon things, first ladies to whom it is abnormal to jettison their pet projects. They are few. In fact, the only one so far known to this reporter is the former First Lady of Ondo State HE Dr Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu.

In spite of leaving office in 2023 following the sudden demise of her husband Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, CON Dr. Akeredolu has kept the flames of her pet projects burning even with greater intensity.

The Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN) which she founded long before she became First Lady of Ondo State is still running. Her Ondo State Summer Tennis Clinic for children between the ages of four and 13 is up and running.

The most spectacular of all is the BeMore Empowered Girls Foundation, organizers of the annual BeMore Summer Boot Camp for Girls Naija which she initiated in 2017.

Not a few doubted whether the programme will outlive her stay in office. And when her husband kicked the bucket midway to the end of his second term, the naysayers put their doubt button in top gear.

But Dr. Akeredolu who holds the revered chieftaincy title of Ada Owere 1 has silenced all doubters with the kick-off of the seventh edition of the BeMore Summer Boot Camp. The two-week-long intensive training programme is holding at the prestigious Lead City International School Jericho Ibadan Oyo State.

The camp opened on Sunday August 25 and will close on Saturday September 7, 2024.

The opening ceremony presided over by the Minister of State for Education, Hon. Olawande Ayo Wisdom on Monday August 26 provided the platform for the former First Lady of Ondo State to give not only a peep into the programme especially for those who are getting acquainted with the programme for the first time but also for dignitaries and participants as well as facilitators to send laudatory messages to her for keeping the flame aglow after office.

Declaring the seventh edition open, Hon Olawande insisted that skills acquisition was a veritable tool to end poverty and starvation in the country. Describing the programme as very impactful, the Minister emphasized the need to train and equip the country’s girls because empowering them would make for the rapid development of the country.

The special guest of honour and GMD/CEO of Odu’a Investments Limited, Abdulrahman Yinusa and the Managing Director of WE Africa Limited Oluwatoyin Olaife enjoined the 100 participating girls to maximize the opportunity. While pledging support for the programme, they also implored the well-to-do to back the programme.

A representative of Okitipupa Oil Palm Limited, Taiwo Adewole was unequivocal in the decision of his establishment to provide support for the programme.

Adewole said support for BeMore Summer Boot Camp is an investment the company wants to make in the long term to ensure its sustainability.

Dr. Akeredolu seized the opportunity to explain why this year’s edition of the programme is being staged in Oyo State rather than Ondo or Imo states where the previous six editions held.

According to her, it is to give BeMore Summer Boot Camp national visibility as a leading NGO in girls’ advancement in STEM+E (Science, Technology Engineering Mathematics Plus Entrepreneurship). She also disclosed that taking the programme to Oyo State was to correct the wrong impression that it is an Ondo State Government programme. She declared that the Ondo State Government has never had any hand in the programme and will never do.

Dr. Akeredolu certainly thought of the sustainability of the programme and begun on time to make preparations. Her Bemore Empowered Girls Foundation had acquired and is at present developing a permanent site at Owo, Ondo State. When construction at the site is completed, future editions of the programme will be held at the facility.

Besides making plans for the perpetuation of the programme, the ability of the programme to deliver on its core mandate of raising future female technology champions and entrepreneurs who are described as special breed without greed makes it a desideratum. Graduands of the programme have formed an alumni association known as BeMore Sisters Network which is helping to sustain the programme.

Speaking with this reporter, Coordinator of the Solar Sector of BeMore Sisters Network, Christiana Madu who was of the 2018 Batch disclosed that the network is working to ensure the BeMore Summer Boot Camp is sustained. The network organizes post-camp training programmes for new graduands and mentors them as well.   

Corporate sponsors who see the impact on graduands of the programme are also not in a hurry to stop their sponsorship. If anything, they are increasing the number of participants they sponsor to the programme yearly.

BeMore Summer Boot Camp is run with the international best practices. The girls come into camp and are put through an intensive training in ICT (Information Communication Technology) and solar energy. They are also inculcated with life-enhancing skills like bead-making, paste-making, gele-tying, arts and crafts, public speaking, dancing, music and taekwondo for self-defence.

With these skills, the girls return home exuding much confidence and ready to contribute their own quota in nation-building. BeMore is gender-biased and its founder, Dr Akeredolu has no apologies. While growing up in her native Emeabiam Community in Imo State ,she said she came face-to-face with discrimination against the girl-child. Families preferred training their male children before giving any thought to the female children.

And with her education, she came to the realization that what a man can do a woman could also do it. Moreover, she understands that STEM+E is also gender neutral. If a boy could comprehend STEM+E, a girl could also comprehend it. So, to bridge the gender gap, she floated the BeMore Empowered Girls Foundation to train girls in STEM+E.

The girls who come into the summer boot camp are in their teens, they are still in their prime. At this age, their minds could still comprehend things. So, this catch-them-young strategy is another strength of the programme.

Again, the programme is for all category of girls. In 2022, the programme admitted six hearing-impaired girls from the Ondo State School for the Hearing-Impaired. In the 2023 edition, four hearing-impaired girls from the Ondo State School for the Hearing-Impaired also participated. This year, six of them drawn from the Ondo State School for Hearing Impaired and Mission School for the Hearing Impaired, Ibadan Oyo State are taking part. Like their chaperone, Miss Roseline Aderinto said, BeMore Summer Boot Camp has demystified STEM+E for the girls.

Some of the girls also come from the rural areas. For such girls, the BeMore Summer Boot Camp exposes them to the civilization around them, which fires their imagination to begin to aim at greater heights.