Mrs Oluyemisi Dooshima Suswam was Benue State first lady and wife of ex-governor Gabriel Suswam. So, what’s life like outside Benue State government house for the couple? In this interview, Mrs Suswam says she is devoting her time to what she loves best. Her family, architecture and well-wishers. She also reflected on life as first lady and what that experience has earned her family.
How would you describe life outside Benue State government house after spending eight years as first lady?
First and foremost, the eight years were quite eventful, challenging, but fulfilling. My family is eternally grateful for the privilege to lead God’s people. After eight years in Government House, life has become normal again in the sense that I’m in control of my time. By the grace of God, I can determine when I want to wake up and when I want to retire for the day. I have quickly mainstreamed myself back to work so I can at least be paid salary (laughs). The eight years of service were extra-ordinary as only the grace of God can see you through in the eyes of the public. I tried my best to ensure my utterances were guided and as a public figure, I couldn’t crack jokes carelessly because people could misinterpret me. Now I can play with my friends, family and relax without any pressure to talk to diverse groups of people, meetings, courtesy calls, attending numerous programmes on behalf of the state and things like that. The years of service were totally different from a regular life. I call it extra-ordinary life, because genuine service is a selfless one, serving everyone and anyone at their time and not my time. When you’re opportuned to lead people, you need to be extremely careful and cautious of your utterances, actions, body language and everything, so that you don’t send a wrong message.
So, what have you been doing since you left office over a year ago?
Oh well, after eight years of meritorious service, we needed to rest. Even God in the beginning spent six days creating and then, the seventh day, He rested. So, we rested as it was possible for us within our capacity and having rested, I resumed work. I went back to my regular activities starting with God and then the family. I also now participate fully in domestic responsibilities. I take care of my husband, my children and my entire household. I then make my way to work, which is outside the house. Invariably, life outside Benue State government house is back to the life I was living before my husband became governor. I’m a homemaker, a dotting wife, caring mother, and an architect and property developer who socializes sparingly.
Would you say you and your husband are catching up on family times now? Has it been easy doing that after so long in the government house?
Oh yes, but once a leader, you are always a leader. Catching up on family times is what we are trying to do largely, but we still have the interest of people, supporters and well-wishers at heart. We have to make time for these people too. Catching up on family time does not mean we no longer carry our loyal supporters along; we still have some responsibilities in society. Nonetheless, we are doing our best to catch up on those times you are talking about.
For eight years, you concentrated very well on celebrating the Benue woman. How would you say that has impacted positively on the Benue woman today?
What we did celebrating the Benue woman for eight years was to give Benue women a platform to foster friendship amongst them; self-esteem, sense of belonging and to extol their values and virtues. So, having done that over the years, it is now left for the Benue woman to stand up for herself. It is my hope that someday, somewhere, somehow, somebody who understands what we did, would take it up from there and continue it. In a nutshell, what I am saying is that the Benue woman has a lot of potentials and we were unlocking them. To the glory of God, it has yielded dividends. Now you would see Benue women who did not know themselves but for the platform. It was a rallying point for Benue women at home and abroad. We promoted unity, support and good neighborliness. I was overwhelmed, for instance, that two sisters from the same local government did not know each other hitherto. We were showcasing what we have indigenously in Benue that’s peculiar to each local government. All the exhibitions we hosted were to expose to the world the potentials in Benue; in the various local government areas. Today, you can see our clothes; the traditionally woven clothes (anger), made into purses, shoes, cross-body bags, briefcases and western styles etc. Some of them have been sold abroad and commonly used now. Those were some of the things we did those years celebrating the Benue woman.
If you recall, each year of “Celebrate The Benue Woman” had a theme such as “Beauty and Brains” which focused on undergraduates i.e. young women and mothers of the future. We had a beauty pageant amongst other activities in partnership with the United Nations. Participating students must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 with recommendation letters from their heads of department. We camped them for 21 days, feeding them with the words of God and numerous other moral training to become ambassadors of the flagship. We also organized cooking competitions concurrently with inter-local government food fair. We hosted fashion fairs with competitions as well and people always left with valuable gifts that could set them up for life. All these were to unlock the potentials in the Benue woman. So, today you see a lot of fashion designers around, very proud of themselves. We were also supporting those already in business so that they would not be easily discouraged in the face of any challenge. We fortified them with more zeal and passion about what they do through the word of God judiciously. We devoted two to three days annually to these activities starting with prayer sessions which at the inaugural edition gave birth to the breakfast fellowship at government house. Today, many women have cultivated a prayerful lifestyle and this alone is a great feat for me. Families are better off and society has witnessed more enterprising women. Farmers are happier, recognized and assured of their worth in the land. Little drops of water make a mighty ocean. It has impacted the lives of the Benue woman in no small measure whether we realize it or not. The awareness and consciousness of the Benue woman as well as our men have been stimulated. We may not have eradicated a problem 100 percent, but we’ve achieved a milestone. I would say, we have brought Benue women out of their shells socially, economically and politically. Hitherto, they didn’t have the courage to participate in elective offices due to socio-cultural and economic limitations but now they do, interestingly due to years of intense advocacy at that level. We facilitated the first female representation at the National Assembly for two terms in this democratic dispensation. At the state House of Assembly, we had up to four female representatives out of 29 members then and that was groundbreaking. We had three female council chairmen and several female councilors across the three senatorial districts. Even at the recent national confab, which took place towards the end of my husband’s administration, there were three representatives from the state including a woman. I understand that a woman is now working closely with the current government. You can see that singular opportunity availed her the exposure she needed to be relevant outside the university environment. Equally, we produced the first female that ever served as GM, Benue State Water Board and later MD, Lower Benue River Basin. Imagine these in a place with very strong cultural norms against women. There are so many of such cases that make me so fulfilled besides the positive impact of my NGO.
The ninth set just graduated under the auspices of the Sev-Av Foundation. How has the foundation positively impacted the people of Benue State generally?
Yes, we recently hosted the 10th graduation of our students from the various skills centres. I would say that by the grace of God, the foundation has impacted the Benue society directly or indirectly. Like I said earlier, little drops of water make a mighty ocean. We have trained about 1,500 students over the past years and you see that even if we have not done anything at all, at least 70 percent of these students are now skilled and working while others are not just self-reliant but are also employers of labour. My joy is that we have been able to take these people off the “streets.” If out of the 1,500 we have trained, we have been able to take over 1000 off the “streets”, I think our effort is worth the while. In another way, if you look at the economic implication of that, you would discover that these people have become economically empowered and they are no more dependent on other people for their livelihood. Some of them are family people who probably could not pay their children’s school fees hitherto but now they can conveniently. Married men can now satiate their obligations; women can also contribute their quota to the economic growth of the state. During the graduation ceremony, a woman who graduated from the foundation in 2011 said before enrolling at the foundation, she was doing nothing and when she heard about its free training, she applied and on her graduation, we gave her a sewing machine. She opened a shop in Gboko and now she employs some people. She is one of the people our M and E section monitored to ensure they put their skills and tools to good use. So, by and large, the foundation has impacted those families directly and consequently affected the society positively as they are now contributing their quota to the economic growth of Benue State and Nigeria generally.
Would you say the people of Benue State still love your family despite the challenge you are facing with the present government?
Well, I would say God has been so merciful to us and they are very happy, grateful and privileged people which we do not take for granted. It is not our doing, it is the Lord’s doing. We cannot thank God enough as a family. As for the people of Benue, we have enjoyed their tremendous love. Some that benefited greatly from my husband’s benevolence may have betrayed him but they are few. Those who directly or indirectly enjoyed the milk of his kindness and those we did not even know while in office but admired us from a distance have stood by us firmly spiritually, morally and otherwise. So, we are indebted to Benue people. If I start to list groups and families who have stood by us, we will not leave here today. Life itself is full of ups and downs. The time you are up there, you assume that everybody is your friend. But only a fool would imagine that. We were not foolish and I want to assure you that by the grace of God, we were careful with people. We handled people with genuine love and we are reaping rewards of that today. In some people’s houses, you barely see visitors. But every day, people come to us, share with us, spend time with us, pray with us and give us words of encouragement. As for the present administration, what you see is a result of political differences and does not reflect the will of Benue people. A lot of lies, deceit, exaggeration and propaganda are making the rounds about our family originating from government but time will expose the truth to the world.
What would you really say is the problem between the present governor and your family?
From my own point of view, I do not see any problem that warrants this level of hostility and I don’t believe in hearsay. The present governor has not in any way offended us as a family by his action or inaction, but the whole world knows that he enjoyed the full benefit of Suswam’s government. He is only acting according to his level of understanding and we have no control over that but what we have control over is how we allow it to affect or distract us.
Whatever has a beginning has an end. If there is a challenge today as you have said, by the grace of God, I don’t know it. Everything that is hidden to a man is open to God and no condition is permanent.
If given another opportunity, would you allow your husband take up any other elective position in future?
Ah, please do not ask me, I have learnt my lessons. Let God’s will be done. He is a full-fledged man. As a helpmate, the place of prayer is where I stand; let God direct his path to fulfill the plan of his maker. I am to pray and I listen to God. That’s all.