When posted to Oyo State for the one year National Youth Service
Corps programme, little did Corper Odunayo Amosu know that she was going to become the Atunluse of Iseyinland.
The 25 year-old Micro Biology graduate from the Lagos State University reported to the NYSC orientation camp in Iseyin
last year. She’s a batch C, 2011 youth corps member (like me).
While serving at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture,
Ibadan, Amosu embarked on three personal community development projects.
Among them was donation of N35,000 worth of food stuff, toiletries,
baby food, pamper, detergent, palm oil, groundnut oil and semovita to
FOMWAN Motherless Baby Home at Bashorun, Ibadan.
After her first visit to the home on May 31, she said that she was
touched by the vision of the founders of the home and the plights of the
orphans.
“I knew about the home while passing through Bashorun. As a Christian,
what interested me was the fact that the home is being run by Muslim
sisters. I was gingered by the desire to create peaceful co-existence
between Christians and Muslims. This, for me, would go a long way to
sustain peace. We all know what is going on in this country but in my
own way, I’m trying to encourage an atmosphere of peace.’’
Driven by her pet project tagged, ‘Women are great tools for community
development,’ Amosu travelled back to Iseyin after her three-week
orientation from November to December 2011.
Driven by the saying that whoever trains a woman trains a nation, she
said, “I trained a total of 86 women under the empowerment scheme on
how to produce liquid wash, Izal, stove thread, bleach, liquid air
freshener etc. for five months.”
On completion of the training, she gave two of the participants two
pepper grinders (with Atilola as one of the beneficiaries), with other
materials to 15 women to start off their trade. In all, 20 women were
provided with empowerment materials while all the participants got a
training handout and a certificate each.
In appreciation of her gesture, the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Ganiyu
Adekunle Salau (JP), Ologunebi Ajinonse II, gave her the traditional
title of Atunluse of Iseyinland.
Hehe, see the good works that a fellow corper has done…I really deserve to be scolded! *smh*
