The interview team of SOJ WORLDWIDE ONLINE NEWS paid a courtesy visit to Otunba Iyabo Alabi’s house in Ibadan on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. She welcomed the team of Editor-in-Chief Adesoji OMOSEBI and the Editor/Online Advert Executive – Josephine KOLAWOLE.
Otunba Iyabo Alabi is a really lively woman and she is fun to be with. She took us down memory lane into her early life, family, academic pursuits, profession and narrated some of her life experiences that shook her up. We learnt about her relationship with God and she showed us a lot of pictures. In all, it was a really exciting experience and moment that we had with her.
A brief background about yourself.
I was born on the 12th of July, 1950 at Mercy hospital in Lagos (Ita Faaji). My father was the Late Alhaji Salau Diekola Aderounmu, and my mother was Late Alhaja Sariyu Odunola Alatede. She practised both Christianity and Islam before she died. I am the first child of my parents, and I have 9 siblings (two from my mum and six from my dad).
I was the only child for almost 8 years. I was pampered and well taken care of because of that. They ensured I went to a very good school. My first school was Children’s home school, Molete Ibadan. After that, I went to Alaafia Institute, Mokola (Boarding school) for my primary education.
Afterwards, I went to Yejide Girls Grammar School, Molete Ibadan founded by David and Hannah Hinderer. The Old Girls of Yejide are the ones in top positions now (the current Head of NAFDAC- Prof Adeyeye, three former first ladies –Mrs. Agagu, Mrs. Fashola and Mrs. Amosu, Former Chief Justice of Ondo – Late Mrs. Olateru Olagbegi, Commissioners and many others) and we are doing well for the school now. In fact, there was a time that seven of us (that attended Yejide Girls Grammar School) were head of different departments in UCH.
Thereafter, I went to Western Germany and studied the language for almost two years in Hamburg. I later left for the United States of America. There, I decided I wanted to be a Dietician and got a diploma. Later, I went to Pratt Institute in New York for my first degree and then New York University for my master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. When I got back to Nigeria, I decided to stay in Ibadan. For six years, I was unable to get a job even though I knew people in prominent positions (my uncle – Olunloyo was the Governor of Oyo State, the Chairman of Punch – Uncle Olu Aboderin was still alive, Dr Lekan Aare and many others). I served very well in UCH as a Dietician and did my job diligently.
I filled several forms but couldn’t get a job. It was a miracle that I finally got a job in 1988. Late Professor Osuntokun (of blessed memory) was going through some NYSC corps member’s files one day and stumbled on my file. He summoned me and I went to UCH the following morning, even though I had just arrived from the United States with my newly born two months old son. He asked if I wanted to work with UCH and I told him I had filled many forms because I was highly interested in working there. He looked for my file but there was no trace of it anywhere. There, he asked me to fill another form in his office and gave it to the then DA( Director of Administration) who flung my form. On getting back to his office, he asked what happened and I narrated the incident to him. He requested for a man named Mr Salako – the second in command to the DA, and asked him to sign the form. I started work the following week with a newly born baby.
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I give all glory to God because I’m the first Dietician in UCH to rise to the position of Deputy Director, even though Assistant Director was the highest position in my department as at that time. Also, I lectured in the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Ibadan as an Associate Lecturer. I retired July 12, 2010 at 60 years old.
What about your immediate family?
I’m married with two boys, born in 1980 and 1988 respectively. I met my husband in the US and we both came to Nigeria together. My husband got a job at the Secretariat and he was on Level 8 for eight years. He went back but I stayed in Nigeria with the children because I didn’t want them to school in the US during their formative years. When they finished, they went back one after the other.
What does your early life look like?
I lived with my mother and grandmother (the first woman to sell clothes at Gbagi – mama Alatede Aboderin). They were very strict and tough. When I was in Yejide, I didn’t have a single boyfriend and my friends knew. I didn’t even have a flair for boys because of the two women that brought me up. When I was finally able to have one, I travelled to Western Germany and it was short-lived. He gave me a Bible when I was travelling and that’s all. The distance affected us because we just met.
I am very happy that I lived with them because I learnt so many things in life. When I got to Yejide, I was matured enough to live alone because all through my early life I was in boarding school. My mother and grandmother gave me everything I wanted but they didn’t spoil me – financially, clothes etc.
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How did you find yourself in Catholic Church? Were you born there?
No, I was born into Anglican – St. David’s Anglican Church, Kudeti. I met my husband in US and he’s Catholic. When we got to Nigeria, I started following him to his church. My husband’s step mother introduced us to some people in the church. One of them asked if I wanted to be a member and I said yes. I did catechism for two years and I passed the exam because I was devoted to it.
I really enjoyed the catholic doctrine and it really changed my attitude in life. It helped because as a giver, I was encouraged to do more. I really love giving things out as a child and I still do it till date because it makes me happy. Catholic has a charity tenet and it is number one in heaven. God asked us to love and if you love, you will give.
How is life after retirement?
(Sighs) Life after retirement is highly dependent on the individual. The government isn’t fair to health workers. I’m not talking about the doctors now. Some nurses contracted diseases in the ward and died while treating patients. Our salary is meagre and the new contributory system of pension that started while I was about leaving the service was not helpful. We couldn’t contribute much before leaving. In the US, some amount of money would have been allocated because we didn’t contribute much. It will be later worked out in a way that we won’t be affected, but that wasn’t done. If I had retired on the old pension scheme I will be earning more than what I am earning now.
My uncle – Chief Ajibola Ogunsola (Baarohin of Ibadan land, the former Chairman of Punch and the first black African in the world to be an Actuarist) advised the then head of state on the need to properly implement the new pension scheme.
I thank God because I spend more now than when I was earning salary and God has been providing for me.
You retired as the Deputy Director, what advice do you have for young ladies who want to be successful in life?
You should have faith in God and be very prayerful. Tell God that he should give you the grace to do what he wants you to do or become. After that, you have to be very hardworking and very honest. No matter what, say the truth and it shall set you free. As a staff at my place of work, my boss will await my arrival when things are not going well because they trust I will tell the truth. I will be honest even where I went wrong and also say things as it were. In the family, I have different names like ‘Alajobi’ and ‘custodian of history’. At church, I am ‘Iya Ibadan’, ‘Iya ni wura’ and ‘Otunba’. If you have faith in God, are hardworking and honest, the sky is the limit.
How did you become Otunba?
(She showed us pictures of her family. She became ‘Otunba’ through her twin partner Late Olori Mojisola (her cousin) whom she share the same birth date with but died May 2019). It was her husband that made my husband and I Otunba. She was Olori at Oke Agbo in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State.
(Talking about late Olori Mojisola) You know we were called ‘Ibeji Alatede’ and we always act like twins. It was ‘a day sickness’ that killed Moji. I was in the United States when she died. After the death of Moji, His Royal Highness (HRH) also died three weeks after. Moji’s death is still painful to me. That is why I don’t want my 70th birthday to be elaborate.
Can you tell us some life moments that shook you up or some battles you contended with?
Looking for a job for six years is a battle! I have all prominent people around me, yet I could not get a job for six years because I didn’t want to go to Lagos. How can my job application form be thrown away? All the schools I went to are very expensive. My mother paid my school fees. She was at Gbagi selling cloth. It’s either you have a scholarship or your parents are very rich and I came to Nigeria but couldn’t get a job. Can you imagine!
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Also, when I was in Western Germany, I felt lonely a little bit. But as time went on, I met some friends. When I got to the US, one of the moments that shook me up was an experience I had when I finished my Masters. I received the congratulatory message from New York University after completing my program and went to show it to my uncle, Olu Aboderin. On my way back home, I was followed by a boy who wanted to harm me. Without a face mask, he was definitely going to try to get rid of me after hurting me. He held a knife to my throat but I was able to get the knife from him unexpectedly. He fled the scene and I’m grateful to God that he couldn’t harm me.
There is also this time I wanted to go for my interview to become a US citizen. I was scared because I wasn’t supposed to have left America in three years, but I had stayed in Nigeria for nine months. On seeing my Passport, I was asked to bring the mails that I have been receiving to show I’ve been living in the country. I just went home and brought more than what he needed. Two weeks after, I was called to come for my swearing-in as an American citizen.
Meanwhile, there was a time that I had a cancer scare. I wanted to apply for a job and it requires that I do medicals. I did an X-ray and the Radiologist said something black was in my chest. When I Googled it, it was cancer. I had to do another X-ray which takes 3 working days to get the result. Those three days were like hell for me. That was the three working days I had in this life since I was born. Anytime my phone rang, I will be terrified. When my phone rang from my doctor’s office, I said Jibola I’m in trouble my phone rang, should I pick it or not? Eventually, I was told ‘congratulations! The test was excellent, you didn’t have anything, everything is so clear, and it’s so perfect.’ I shouted ‘Halleluyah’. Immediately, I was very hungry (laughter). That was terrible and I give glory and adoration to God. I shall not die but live to declare the works of God.
What are some of your glorious moments?
Oh! My glorious moments! The day I graduated from New York University. The day I had my first child in January 1980, I was so happy. That’s the year one begins motherhood. I was even happy when I had my second child eight years apart, it was a glorious day. Every day is always my glorious day.
When I retired was also my glorious day because it is God’s miracle. I thank God that I did not flout the law of the land, I did not end up in prison and I did not die in service. I thank God Almighty for that.
How do you feel now celebrating your 70th birthday?
You know Satan has failed woefully. I was feeling somehow and I had to pray to God to forgive me. Moji and I are supposed to celebrate our 70th birthday together but she is no more and I even saw her in my dream. She was not supposed to talk to me but she was talking with me. I said Lord, don’t let people say she is almost 70 and she died. I told God to forgive me because my faith is shaking. I decided that I had to be very happy. Since yesterday (Wednesday, July 8, 2020), I have been very happy. Anytime I speak with my children, I always tell them I’m not celebrating my birthday because I am about to die.
I told some people to decorate the garage for me because I want to dance there. By God’s grace, I will dance from 6am till 7am praising God and they will video me dancing to Tope Alabi’s music. I am going to dance for Jesus and I will put it on my social media page, so that everybody will see I am really dancing for Jesus. I told God to let it rain if He wants it to, but it shouldn’t disturb us.
Looking back now, is there anything you think you would have done differently?
I just laughed hearing this. Nothing! God has really done great things in my life. It is a fulfilled life. To start with, the family He puts me in because I didn’t struggle for anything. Nothing o! God really loves me. You know I have some friends that struggled in life. I always tell them not to worry. In a generation, some will struggle for some to enjoy. In my generation, some people have struggled and we came to enjoy. If you are struggling now, your next generation will enjoy what you have struggled for. In each family, someone has to struggle.
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I am one of the lucky ones that met the apple pie. As a little girl, I was so happy the day I met Baba Awolowo, Baba Akintola and Tafawa Balewa in our house at Oke Bola. They came to meet my uncle – grandmother’s first born, Baba Moyosore Aboderin. He used to be a politician and he was friends with all of them.
When I left Hamburg for New York, one of my uncles was a diplomat and he came to pick me from the airport. I lived a diplomatic life. So I enjoyed from birth till now. God has been so good to me. There is nothing I want to do differently. God has been so good to me and I am good at my profession. I counsel very well. I won’t do anything differently.
Mummy, what is the secret of your looks because you still look radiant at 70?
People always say that! God’s grace is number one. Also, he created the world with word. My other twin sister was fat while I was slim when we were born. (She showed us the pictures of herself and Mojisola).
Grandma visited Mama Nike’s mother, my mother’s immediate elder sister. When she came to our house, she saw many clothes on the bed and removed the clothes to sit. She now said. “Odunola (my mother), bring the child”. My mother exclaimed, “The child was in the clothes you put away”. If my grandma weren’t neat and orderly, she could have killed me because she didn’t know I was wrapped in the clothes. I was not born premature but I was small.
My grandmother pointed at me and said this one will never look older till she dies. God created this world with word and it is very powerful.
I feel my looks are a grace of God and the word that came out of my grandma’s mouth. People don’t know I am already 70. Years back, they were so surprised at the American Embassy that I was born in 1950 when I showed them my original birth certificate.
My voice also doesn’t show I am 70.
SOJ WORLDWIDE: Wow! Thanks for your time ma. We wish you a happy birthday and many happy returns in sound health, peace and joy!
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