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Dr. SIJU ILUYOMADE Reveals
Not very many people will meet Dr. Siju Iluyomade for the first time and not find her to be a fascinating personality. If you are not impressed by her intellectual depth, you will fall in love with her often colourful and gorgeous look. She is often always impeccably dressed, adorned with some of the most exquisite pieces of jewelry you can possibly find. Yes, Dr. Siju is that wealthy, she can afford to buy the trendiest designer clothings money can buy, and yet she carries herself with such humility that continues to astound many who know very closely. The days are long past when men and women of God wore the faith under a robe of impoverishment and monotonous vestments. Present-day overseers of Christian assemblies, especially, have taken to showing the way in all walks of life. Siju Iluyomade is a case study.
A lawyer, public speaker, activist, and pastor, Dr. Siju Iluyomade is unlike most people in the courtroom, podium, or pulpit. Easily striding back and forth across the bridge established by both sides of the religious and non-religious outlooks, Iluyomade has managed to be relevant to both: spiritual enough to be the light to the world, and contemporary enough to inspire everyday people.
Since she hit the ground running with her Arise Women Conference, this amazing Amazon has raised the bar all over the country on the identity of women as capable members of humanity, their upliftment and empowerment, and the truth about their being “…the hand that rocks the cradle (that) rules the world.”
For many, Dr. Siju Iluyomade is the super-stylish wife of Pastor Idowu Iluyomade (also known as Pastor ID), a senior pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God City of David Parish, Victoria Island, Lagos. In truth, Iluyomade’s fashion sense and sheer magnetic presence are enough to convince one that she is ‘other’—that is, that she is different, a natural-born leader and pillar of change and transformation. And this is what she has done with her faith-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) for women empowerment and Handmaidens Women in Leadership Series (HWILS), Arise Women.
With Siju Iluyomade, you get more than a rapid-fire pulpit style. The fair lady’s stylish composition puts one in mind of a lady of pageants: breathtaking and harmonious. With Iluyomade, you get philanthropy, grassroots development, all-round nation-building, and unintentional tips for how to dress, address, and impress.
At the recently held 15th edition of ARISE Women Conference, Siju Iluyomade revealed a part of her background many hadn’t seen before. She explained to the women how she dared to dream big and take bold steps to bring her dreams to fruition. She encouraged the women tyo be courageous. She encouraged them to face their fears and overcome them. ARISE today is global. It’s international and I can only but welcome you my beloved sisters from outside Nigeria. They called to be part of this, please let them stand up for recognition. Threy are here all the way from Italy, Verona, Sweden, Finland, from Asia, from Dubai, from all over. Let me tell you what is remarkable about these women. These women did not ask me to buy their flight tickets. These women did not ask me for accommodation. They came here on their own volition and on their own bill. My beloved friend here came all the way from Verona and because this year’s theme is Step Up and I know that we’ve done so much with many of our talents. Look around this magnificent sanctuary, I will tell you it is beautiful. And if you don’t like me telling you, you’re joking. I will sing the praises of myself and of my God.. I must announce myself to the world because you will not announce me. Listen, I did the whole of the interior of this sanctuary (receives applause).
The gift of Art, of painting, of colouring, was a gift from God Almighty. I am an artist. While my friends in school chose to do Home Economics, cookery, short hand and the rest, I chose Fine Arts and I was one of the best. I would paint and I would draw. I would pick textiles, making Adire fabric. Let me tell you something, through that talent, I have been making Adire for more than 30 years now, selling for profit.i used it to step up, though I am a lawyer by profession. But every gift that God gave to me, I never allowed it to lie idle. You are thinking, why s she telling us about her Adire trade, I will tell you today, I sold Adire to so many people but I couldn’t remember faces of all of the people I sold them to. But I always remember one thing – ego, give me my money. And then, my friend was announced to be First Lady of Lagos State and then, I met her when she became First Lady. And she hugged me and held me very tightly and said, are you still wearing your big earrings? I said, oh, most definitely. And she said, you’re looking at me somehow, do you remember me and I said, yes, though I was still trying to place her face. And she said I was one of your greatest Adire clients. Guess who she was? Dame Abimbola Fashola. And today, we have become sisters. So, as women, we should learn to build relationships. Today, I’ve become a sister to Eno Jerry Eze. My dear, whether you like it or not, we have become sisters today (turns to Eno and greets her in Igbo language).
So, to step up is something you need to do daily with all your resources and expertise and talent that God gave to you. It’s a clarion call for you to be able to go for excellence and nothing else. It says fortune only befriends the bold. I am bold. I am courageous. I don’t take no for an answer. If you tell me no, then I will ask you in another way because I must get the answer I want. The building of this temple was conceived over 30 years ago. There was no, no, as to whether it would be built. Today, it is here standing. So, you need to dream big and uphold your dream, I graduated as a lawyer and very early, I realised that the money was not going to suffice. With the kinds of big dreams I had, working for other people, it wasn’t going to work. So, I just decided one day, and established the Law practice. And then, my senior at the bar, my husband, my sugar baby, my choco milo, he had been working for about four years and he was earning 450k and I was earning 850k in my first year, so, I said to him, biko nu, leave that place and come and join me here. Be my senior partner in this business. And it became one of the best decisions I ever took. Today, the rest is history.
Many years ago when I started ARISE, I would go to hospitals and donate medical needs like incubators and stuff, and then I decided that we need to gather together as women and speak to one another because I realised a nation cannot grow beyond its women folk. It’s not possible. As long as you continue to surpress us or put us down, or even give us positions in government that are irrelevant, we are not going to make it as a nation. Success is key to survival. We are women and we must not continue to succumb to stereotypical rules. I, Siju, challenged everything. Everything. Some of my classmates are judges, I see them. I won’t cal names. I see women whom I grew up with al over. I see my Aunties, they know me from Cathedral, CMS, I welcome you. I never knew how to say I can’t. And I was brought up by a woman who can never accept No, for an answer. A widowed very early, she celebrated 90 this year. She was widowed for 47 years. She never remarried, I didn’t even know my mother was pretty until this year. She raised all her five children alone, She came out with three lawyers, an artiste and an engineer. I saw the strength in her. Women at this conference, I am encouraging you, choose to challenge. Imbibe strength, persistence, tenacity, power, determination. You can succeed and we must succeed. Now, nudge your neighbour and say, if you know you, you are not stepping up, I beg move!”
– WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
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