Olapeju Agunbiade is 51 today. And she is marking it in a very special way. She recently told Citypeople how she plans to celebrate it. Below are excerpts of the interview.
You are in a celebratory mood right now. You are 51.How does it make you feel?
I feel happy. I started counting down 51 days ago. I am beginning to feel fulfilled in life
Are you going to celebrate it? What is the plan?
Celebration, no. I am launching the second batch of my fundraising towards free antenatal and free delivery at Omotayo Maternity. Ona Ado Ibadan
You have a Foundation? Tell us about it.
Omotayo Maternity Trust Fund. Reaching out to less privileged women to benefit from free antenatal care and delivery.
Every day, 830 women die of pregnancy related causes in the world. 145 of these deaths occur in Nigeria. Only 20% of health facilities offer emergency obstetric care‼. Only 35% of deliveries are attended by skilled workers‼. Nigeria is ranked among countries with worst maternal mortality rate‼.(WHO). I would love maternal mortality in Nigeria to reduce.
How can I achieve this…
Start by offering free antenatal care and delivery to one pregnant woman that would not consider delivering her baby in a 'hospital ' because of financial implications/constraints. Then another woman... and another... by my 50+1 birthday and beyond I would have made a 'little' difference!!
I am engaging and mobilising audiences like this message you are reading now to take action and raise funds that will support this maternal health project.
My dream, my desire is that every woman, everywhere, will know the joy of a truly safe, comfortable and satisfying birthing for herself and her baby.
The project started Feb 2020. Fundraising started July 14 2019 on my 50th birthday. To date, we have delivered over 78 babies.
I would love to continue.... To support my cause, please WHATSAPP me on +2348126950658. Can this girl do it?
How do you enjoy your job?
When your job is your passion, you enjoy it. It is my second nature to look after pregnant women. Delivering new babies makes me very happy. Such joy!
How do you derive satisfaction from your job?
I get satisfaction by taking and treating each woman as an individual. I have a relationship with them. That way, before the pregnancy gets to term, we have bonded to a large extent. I go all the way and give in my best. All of me!
You are stylish in your dressing how did that evolve?
Stylish?? I take that as a compliment. My dressing is quite simple. When you are confident with the person you see in the mirror, with or without make-up you become stylish because confidence itself is stylish.
Most of my shakara are in Ankara. Overall, the simplicity makes me stylish. I believe I am like a snowflake. No two snowflakes alike. We are all different and unique in various ways.
You have kept a low cut for years .Why did you decide to cut your hair when u did?
This low cut enh? How it started... I was fed up with the state of my hair. I kept spending money on it to make it grow thick and full but it did not happen. So I thought it would be just fine to go back to Jerry curls. To do this, i needed my natural hair and the only way to achieve this was to shave my hair and use a wig. So, I shaved my hair 2010. Three weeks after the first shave my hair started growing but it was tangling seriously and looked untidy. My husband then brought up the idea of keeping the low cut. He affirmed the fact that it looked good on me. I have not looked back since then. I started shaving it myself about 8 years ago with my detailed clipper.
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