Zuriel Oduwole, the young vivacious eleven year old girl-child education advocate was recently in Nigeria for her ‘Dream up, speak up, stand up’ project graced by various dignitaries and I anchored the event. I remember calling up my ‘date’ for this week on that faithful day, for her presentation. When she picked up the microphone and began to speak, I could tell there was something special about this woman. For some minutes, it felt like we were watching a talk-show as she began asking the guests on the high table what they remembered about themselves when they were at Zuriel’s age and from the First Lady of Lagos state, Abimbola Fashola to the special adviser to the Governor of Osun State on Women & Children Affairs, Funmilayo Eso Williams, a legal luminary, they reeled out their activities when at Zuriel’s age and it was quite enlightening. From the beginning of her presentation to the end, if I did not even observe anything at all, I must say I observed her passion for children’s education and holistic development. “There is something peculiar about this woman and I am willing to find out more” I said to myself.
After the event, I wasted no time walking up to her and asking for her contact which she gave me. I reached out to her after the event, we agreed on when to meet and the date and time was fixed.
Wheatbaker hotel was our meeting point and she was there at the exact time we agreed.
She sat elegantly on a white chair in her gorgeous black gown, adorned with beautiful lemon green beads that sat well on her neck army green shoes that fitted well. The exquisiteness of how she looked became more evident when she got up to welcome me in a warm embrace. “You look really nice” I said and “Thank you very much Kemi, you look nice too” she replied. I took my sit and in some minutes, the mannered waiter asked if I wanted anything of which I said no. I can’t but mention that he came back again, not to ask if we wanted anything but to ascertain if we were doing fine and the ambience was okay. “Nice one” I thought to myself, obviously it wasn’t only that the ambience was welcoming, the waiters have obviously been well tutored. Back at the ranch, Tokunboh Durosaro is my ‘date’ for this week.
Tokunboh Durosaro is the Director of the Oando Foundation. Prior to working with the Foundation, she was the chief corporate service officer of Oando Plc. As chief corporate service officer, she managed the performance and service delivery of the following departments: Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility, Procurement and Services Departments. She also developed and implemented the Group Shared Service Scheme. She has over 15 years experience in Public relations, advertising and marketing in the telecoms, information technology and the oil Sector. Durosaro began her career at Multichoice Nigeria Ltd in 1994 where she rose to the position of public relations manager. She also worked as sales and marketing executive at Dialog Corporation (U.K), a provider of internet-based information technology solutions. In 1998, she worked as an Account Manager in Nelson Bostock Communications, one of the leading technology and consumer public relations agencies in the UK, where she managed the business-to-business communication team for the following clients, NTL, KPNQwest, Primus Telecommunications and Bosch. She holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Tokunboh grew up in Ibadan and she comes from a family of four. Her mum is a business woman, her father a mechanical engineer and her brother an engineer too. Her mum was indeed a great influence in her life growing up. She was a business woman who taught Tokunboh early in life that a woman can achieve what a man can. “This influenced me greatly. I had my primary school in Ibadan, after primary, I left to go to the UK at the age of eleven, did my secondary school there and went to University of Wisconsin.” Tokunboh tells me and continues “Being away at a young age, I matured quickly and became independent quickly. I started my first job at the age of thirteen . I told my mum I wanted to do a holiday job and she said ‘really?’ and I said ‘yes!’…I went to ask the Italian guy along the road if I could work for him and he agreed. I worked for some hours and was paid about 20 pounds or there about. From then, every summer while in the university, I would work and do summer jobs in the UK.” She reveals.
How then did she become a member of the Oando family and how has the journey been so far? I asked Tokunboh and she responds “I was in the UK while I was approached by Oando PLC. I was asked if I would like to come back to Nigeria. I was practising public relations in the UK at that time and I agreed to work for Oando. By the time I came, Oando was restructured after they took over Unipetrol. We had a cooperate communications department which we built up.”
“Fourteen years down the line, it has been good. I remember then, there were no computers, we had to introduce technology, we metamorphosed Unipetrol, everyone saw and felt the new energy of the new people who took over and they all wanted to be part of that energy. It was god to see. Looking back from then to now, so much has changed, the culture, the people, the work ethics…we remain grateful to God for everything we are today” she admits.
Curious to know what Oando Foundation is all about, I asked Tokunboh and her response said it all. “At Oando Foundation, we want to ensure every child has a right to education, we want to work with the government to ensure that children have the opportunity to go to good primary schools. We know the government alone cannot do this. If you go to some primary schools and see their dilapidated state, you will marvel. We want world class basic education for our children. We are very focused on primary education which many people do not really focus on.”
“We are looking at the holistic approach; it is beyond improving the environment of the child but also improving the holistic life of the child. We have to make sure the infrastructure is right, improve the teachers and help them to be up-to-date. We put an ICT lab so people can see what they are learning practically. We encourage early child care. Between the ages of 2 and 5, a lot about the child is formed. We cannot afford to take those early years with levity. We also work with the communities. Communities are very influential to a child’s development. We have constantly introduced the scholarship scheme where they also have the opportunity to enjoy scholarship to secondary school level and we do it in all the geopolitical zones of the country”. She quips.
Tokunboh is burdened by the state of dilapidation of some schools she has been to. She affirms this when she tells me “anytime I visit some schools, I see that a lot still needs to be done. As much as we like to help many people and despite all we do, we all still have to do more. You go to a school you adopted and helped to transform and you are excited, when you move to another in dire need of help, your heart will bleed.”
“There was a school I went to in December to help clean up, they were having exams and were over a hundred in the class. Some of them were sitting on the floor, how can they excel in such an environment? We want things to happen fast but it takes time. Luckily, the state governments of the places we are working in have been supportive. Though we are not allowed to go to some parts of the North for security reasons, we have not relented in ensuring we adopt more school s and help in their transformation.”
Cogent on Tokunboh’s to-do list is getting more partners to help support the foundation. In her words, “I am working on getting more partners to support us, there are grants available outside Nigeria for Nigeria towards education so I am doing my best to find out education grants that we can apply for and high network individuals that want to support us. I am looking for organisations doing similar things who might not necessarily be working presently with Nigeria but are willing to support this course”. She says
Being in the position that she is, I asked Tokunboh if she gets intimidated in anyway and her response was on point. “I don’t get intimidated easily. What has helped a lot is the culture of my organisation. We all know what to do and we do it well. You can be challenged and corrected when you ere but it is to bring out the best in you. We are like a family and everyone knows what to do and we do our best to do it well. If you need to convince them more on your strategy, you have to but intimidation of anyone is surely not on our list at Oando PLC at all”.
As a mother and wife, Tokunboh is passionate about several things and still carries out her duties as director at Oando successfully. Wondering how she combines all effectively? Hear her “As a woman, you either have the grace to multitask or you don’t. Women work like men, there are sacrifices you have to make, you have to have a support structure at home and work so that even when you are not there, everything doesn’t fall apart. Once you get that balance right, every other thing will fall in place. The decision to multitask as a woman is a choice and it depends on your personality.”
“Some people are comfortable being at the managerial level and there is nothing wrong with that. You will find that women who naturally want to be leaders strive for it and those who don’t want to do not. In this world, when there is a will, there is a way. Nothing comes easy. I don’t give up. In fact, my friends say they do not know someone who has been so down and up at the same time yet keeps keeping on. You must keep trying everything to make things work. Life is full of challenges but they are not insurmountable, you can’t just give up. Know where you are going and keep your eyes fixed on the mark, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, it might not be what you want but there is something there, when you get there and see it, you can make it work to your advantage and move on again from there.” She admonishes
Gradually but surely, Tokunboh has moved up the ladder to be where she is today. At every new level, she fears failure but ends up conquering fear and excels. According to her, “when I move from one position to another, I have the fear of failure but when I get in there, God gives me the grace and I build the capacity to succeed. I ask questions and become informed. I never want to fail and always willing to learn”.
In the spirit of the season, Tokunboh tells me she will be spending Easter with her family and concludes saying “We must all pray for Nigeria, we need a lot of prayers this time. Pray for unity for Nigeria and for our leaders and it shall be well with this land”.
