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What She Told City People
Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede is 70. But she does not look it, one bit. She also does not act like a 70 year old. She is sprightly and active.
It was her 70 birthday a few days ago. And the Birthday Thanksgiving party was well attended. It was a commemoration of Bimbo Oloyede @ 70 under the Chairmanship of Chief & Chief Mrs. Emeka Anyaoku. The Father of the Day was Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. It was held at Glover Memorial Hall, in Lagos. Colour Code was a touch of Silver.
Many of the guests commended the celebrant for her vibrant look at 70.
She is ageing gracefully. And she is still very active professionally. She is into Media Consultancy. And she has a new project to mark her 70th birthday.
It is her N100 Million Fund Raising, extending a lifeline for Cancer Research & Treatment in Public Hospitals. She is not only extending a lifeline, she is offering hope at the same time.
Her Cancer project called Lifeline Advocacy & Development Initiative was launched during her birthday and she was able to get a few people to sow a seed. Many believe in her because of her remarkable achievements in life as a thoroughbred professional.
For those who don’t know her track record, lets tell you a little.
Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede is an author, speaker and trainer and has been a broadcast professional for nearly 5 decades. Employed by the then NBC/TV as an assistant producer in 1975, she was later assigned to the Presentation Department, became a pioneer member of NTA’s Network News team and thus, became the first woman to cast NETWORK NEWS on Nigerian Television. Thereafter, she teamed up with her husband and became an independent Radio/TV producer, presenter, moderator and compere.
She established The Women’s Optimum Development Foundation (WODEF) and from 2000 to 2015, partnered with UNFPA, UN Women, UNIC, USAID, UNDP, the Canadian Government, the British Council etc., convening workshops, producing radio jingles, radio and TV drama, promoting gender equality and highlighting gender-based violence. She was also elected National Coordinator of The Global Fund for Women Network in Nigeria, which she headed for over 5 years.
From 2002 to 2015, she was a Consultant/News Anchor and Trainer at Channels Television and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalistic Excellence by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, in 2015.
Over the years, she has anchored hundreds of news bulletins and presented or moderated scores of Live and recorded TV shows for the public and private sector at state, national and international events.
Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede is currently the CEO/Lead Consultant at Strictly Speaking and for the last 25 years, has trained and coached various clients in elocution, public speaking and communication skills. In 2016, she published STRICTLY SPEAKING: Pronunciation Made Easy and STRICTLY SPEAKING: An Oral Guide for Schools and Colleges, followed in 2018. It has been approved by the N.E.R.D.C and State Ministries of Education, for use by Senior Secondary Schools.
Last Friday, City People Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE spent some time with her at her Lagos home and met a woman who is at peace with herself.
She feels fulfilled. And she looked ageless as she sat to talk about the story of her life. She is a very modest woman who does not look tired at 70.
She is still very active and creative.
For about an hour, this naturally beautiful broadcaster spoke about why she feels relieved that she is 70.
How does it feel being 70, we asked. “That is an interesting question. And I asked myself that question on the eve of my 70th birthday. Or I said to myself, when I wake up tomorrow morning, am I going to feel different? And, I didn’t feel different, really.
But I felt a sense of freedom, which is a bit difficult to explain. Maybe its a mixture of Freedom and Relief, that well, the day has finally arrived and now I am 70 years old.
I felt a sense of Gratitude, of course Grateful to God for sparing me, 3 scores and 10.
And hopeful also. I felt Hopeful that quite a few things I want to do, I will still be able to do. Yes. I felt good”.
Looking back at her life does she feel she has been able to accomplish all her set goals or some are still outstanding?
“As a creative person, one keeps up coming up with new ideas. I think that if you set goals, once you achieve them you will now set a new lot of goals. I honestly can’t say I was an ambitions person in my earlier years.
So, when you talk about setting goals, it is not as if I sat down and said this is what I want to achieve, this is what I have to do, this is what I have to have.
What I know is that, the job that I did gave me a variety of opportunities and as a result of that, I explored those opportunities. So, the goal-setting was not something that was deliberate or intentional, but because of my job, there were offshoots that took me in different directions.
And so, it may have seemed that I sat down one day and said I want to do this or that.
No. I think the only deliberate thing I did is that I set up my NGO to highlight woman’s concerns and Gender concerns. And I did that, although at a point I stopped. But for the 15 years that I ran it, it has a deliberate action, because you had to sit down and have a plan of action, write up, get the funds and do the project.
These were goals within one large goal”.
How did she feel at her Birthday party when she saw eminent Nigerians converge at the hall to honour her with their attendance? “I was humbled that those people showed up for me. I was really, really happy that they showed up.
Interestingly, quite a lot of them, I had a history, in one way or another with most of these people.
One of the things I did on that day was to launch a N100 million Cancer Appeal Fund.
I have had a close relationship with many of my guests who came to my event.
Like Erelu Abiola Dosumu. I have known her for years. I invited Erelu and she came. As far back as, almost 25 years during the time I was presenting a programme on TV called Crystal with 3 of my colleagues, we invited her to a Motherless Babies home somewhere in Ogun State which we decided we wanted to support. We invited Erelu back then to come to that event to see what we were doing there. She showed up.
That is what made me invite her again for this new initiative. For all those who came and were around me, I could tell you one story or the other. So, I was really happy that they honoured the relationship that we have had over the years. They honoured the friendship and the respect that we had for each other over the years”.
You have aged gracefully. Can you share with us some of the secrets?
(Laughs) Hmmm! Ageing gracefully. I am wondering, how do you age gracefully?
Okay. One of the things is exercise. It is very important, I exercise as often as possible. Even if it is just 30 minutes or 45 minutes everyday. If you can’t do it everyday, maybe you can do it 3 times a week or 4 times a week? That is very very important.
In my own case, I walk. I started by jogging but when I got to 60 my Coach said to me that enough of jogging, its time for you to start walking. For the past 10 years, I have been walking. I walk averagely 5 days a week. It clears your head early in the morning. It gives you a good start.
It energises you. That is one of the things I would suggest and advice.
Another habit I have adopted is I try not to eat before 6.30pm everyday and if I am going to, it could be tea. I do not eat large quantities of food. There is a point beyond which I jsut can’t go. I think the older you get the smaller the portion should be. It works for me and makes me comfortable.
I think also, peace of mind is very important.
Naturally, as human beings we would worry about certain things. But worrying does not solve any problem. I have learnt as much as possible to think ahead. My life as a producer over the years has taught me this. I have been used to being productive in my thinking.
If a problem is placed before me I do not waste time lamenting. I do not waste time having a pity-party, wondering what do I do. I begin to think constructively about how to get out of that problem or who to reach out to, to help me think constructively, so that the problem can be addressed. So worrying is not part of my nature.
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