Arewa Olufunmilayo Odeneye is the pretty wife of Ogun lawmaker and a two-term House of Reps member, Hon. Kehinde Odeneye representing Ijebu Central Federal constituency. She works with one of the leading insurance firms in Lagos. Going by the popular saying that ‘behind every successful man, there is always a woman’, this adage is best used to describe Arewa as she is fondly called. She is a pillar of support behind her husband.
Recently, her husband held the 3rd phase of his empowerment scheme at the Otunba Dapo Dina Stadium in Ijebu Ode where more than 1000 constituents were empowered. In a chat with City People’s ADEOLA SHITTU, she opened up on her marriage and why she was instrumental to her husband’s venture into politics.
Let me start by congratulating you on the success of your husband third phase of empowerment scheme today Sunday 14th May, 2017. How do you feel with the turnout?
First of all, l will like to give appreciation to God Almighty .Who haS been our pillar since we took that decision to serve and represent our people in Ijebu Central Federal Constituency at the National Assembly. Though, I am not surprised by the turnout of the good people of Ijebu central federal constituency because this happens to be the 3rd phase of Hon. Kehinde Odeneye skill acquisition and empowerment programme and I will say through this medium that we have been able to empower and reach out to many constituents than we ever expected. And I will like to use this medium to appreciate everyone present, mostly the Rt. Hon. Adekunbi Suraju, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, the state commissioners, the party chairman, the senatorial party chairman, kabiyesis, all party leaders, all the beneficiaries and those who came from far and near to witness the 3rd phase of Hon. Kehinde Odeneye skill acquisition and empowerment programme and I would say more constituents will be empowered by the grace of God.
For the benefit of our readers, can you tell us who is Arewa Olufunmilayo Odeneye?
I am Arewa Olufunmilayo Odeneye, I was born some years ago in Akure, Ondo State capital. I grew up in Akure where I had my primary and secondary education before I proceeded to Ondo State Polytechnic (now Rufus Giwa polytechnic) for my OND and I later moved toLagos state Polytechnic for my HND before I moved to Lagos State University for my Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA). I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Account Nigeria (ICAN) and a registered member of Chartered Institute of Insurance of Nigeria (CIIN). I now work with NEM Insurance Plc as its marketing executive. I am happily married to Hon. Kehinde Odeneye, a member of the House of Reps, representing Ijebu Central Federal Constituency. The man who saw the beauty any man could not see in me and because of this he addresses me as Arewa.
Can you share with us how you met your husband and what attracted him to you?
I met my husband, Hon. Kehinde Odeneye, at the professional accounting tutors’ center at Palmgroove, Lagos in 2002. It will interest you to know that as at then, he worked as a part time lecturer and he was the director of that particular tuition house and I was an ICAN student. Asides him being my lecturer then, the whole thing started as a friendship and it was during our friendship that I discovered some of his traits or better still qualities any woman wants in her man, you see I discovered that he was a nice, caring and accommodating person, so these were some of the things that attracted him to me and today the rest is history. I bless the name of the Lord for the journey so far.
 Both of you are a perfect couple despite your husband being a politician. Can you share with us the secret behind your successful marriage?
Well, we actually got married in 2005, though we met in 2002 and I will attribute the secret of our marriage to God Almighty. Who has been the pillars of our marriage.You see we won’t have been where we are today without God, we built our marriage on a strong pillar, which is God. Don’t get me wrong, we are not perfect and no marriage is perfect and you will agree with me that there is no marriage without one issue or the other, but God has been faithful to us and we have been able to overcome our issues or challenges. My husband was not a politician until 2010 and despite that, nothing has change in our marriage. Another thing is the trust and understanding we have for each other.
How have you been able to cope with the marital challenges now that your husband is a politician?
I will start by saying life itself is full of challenges, but the ability for one to handle and overcome them makes you a successful person. I have to say the truth here. Initially, I didn’t know politics is like this because neither me nor my husband was a politician, we have worked in our different private offices and for us to come into politics, it was another field on its own. At first I was like, is this how this works, when you go here, you see women, when you turn left and right you see women and I was not too comfortable with that, but I later realized that if you go to the grassroots level, you will discover that women are in charge of grassroots politic king and they play active role in the politics of our state and country at large, right from the unit to the ward level to local government and state level. So, having realised that, at the end of the day, I have to cope with it. Another challenge I will say is the timing, the attention and so on. You see before politics came in, my husband and I were very close, I mean very close, we went to office together and we returned home together, we discussed issues, but since he ventured into politics the attention had been minimised and divided. Divided in the sense that my husband now shares attention between his constituents and I. Though, he also tries to create time and attention for me and mostly if I have to talk to him, I will have to wait till late in the night, so that we can talk without phone calls interrupting us, but I will say I have since adjusted and with God on my side, I will say am coping.
You are addressed as Arewa by your husband, how does that make you feel?
Arewa is the christen name given to me by my husband right from the first day that we met in 2002. I believe beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, right from the first day he met me and set his eyes on me, he had been calling me Arewa and I love it so much. Wherever we go, he calls me Arewa and this makes people wonder if Arewa was actually my name, even his family members and associates, call me Arewa.I can really say that was why I fell for him, to me I believe I am beautiful to him and that is his way of viewing me. I can’t see myself as a beautiful woman or lady, he saw me as a beautiful Lady and that is why I said beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
Your husband’s journey to politics will not be complete without mentioning the support and encouragement you gave him, Ma, what motivated your decision then?
I myself can’t even say this is how it all happened or what motivated my decision then but all I will say is that the inspiration and courage came from God. You see I personally did not like politics at all, but I remember he attended 3 different occasions in 2010 and on his arrival from the 3rd function that faithful day, I looked at him and said why does your cap look like that of a politician and he just laughed, so after he settled down, he then informed me about his friend’s decision that they wanted him to join politics. Though, before he ventured into politics in 2010, he had been very supportive and helpful to his people within his community and he also gave financial support to his friends, who were contesting for one political post or the other. so he was telling me that they wanted him to join politics and that they had offered him a position, they wanted him to contest for, he told them that he needed to seek my consent first, so my husband thought that I would say no because he knew I didn’t like politics but as he was telling me, I heard this voice in my ear that said this is the work of thy Lord and I should not disturb it, so that was how I gave him my consent, that if he knew he could cope with it, there was no problem. So, that was how the whole thing started and we appreciate God for where we are today and at the same time appreciate the good people of Ijebu Central Federal Constituency for trusting my husband.
Any regret in your decision since 2010 till date?
There is no regret because God has been faithful to us, one way or the other, we had challenges, but we were able to overcome them, because there is no how you can do without challenges in politics, but I have never regretted my decision and the support I gave my husband to join politics.
How do you manage your roles as a mother, wife and a career woman?
Well, as a mother and wife, I know I have a role to play, some duties to meet up with, which I have been able to cope with and as a career woman, there is limit between the two, when I am at work I diligently, do my job and when am home, I take charge of my home and family, so I will say one is not disturbing the other.
You are indeed, a Fashion icon, in your own words, what is fashion to you?
Fashion has different meanings to different persons, in my case, fashion is anything that looks good on me. I love everything that makes up fashion, but most especially I am a jewellery freak.
How do you unwind?
I relax by attending parties and I love resting as well. If I have no social function to attend, I will be home resting. But when I was a spinster, I loved running. I was really good at 100 and 200 meters race back then in my secondary school and ND days but when I started my HND I didn’t have that opportunity again but now I only take walks round the estate in order to keep fit.
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