Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian businesswoman who has replaced
Isabel dos Santos as the richest African woman, and also is the richest
woman of African descent in the world. Find out her inner secret to success.
How, "I am able to juggle the various roles I play..."
“I
try to do all things in line with God’s will, by continuously, asking Him for
directions for major steps and even mundane ones. God is always
interested in us, and everything that concerns us. God loves us so much and He
does not make us live odious lives. He wants us to have a life of abundance and
desires a relationship with us. Our acceptance of Him allows direct access into
our lives as He directs our footsteps, guides and leads us. I bask in His love
and through this, I’m able to juggle the various roles I play as wife, mother,
grandmother, sister, friend and minister of the gospel.”
"... I love cooking..."
She
adds, “I’m grateful to God for the sound training I received from my mother
while growing up, which prepared me for these roles. I especially love cooking,
taking care of the home and finding time to attend school events with our
granddaughter and bonding with both grandchildren. I also make long mid-term
and short-term plans coupled with prioritizing my day’s itinerary to ensure I
execute those plans.”
"...the secret of my success..."
“God is the secret of all my success in life. I entered
into a covenant with Him when I was seeking His face, and it seemed as if I couldn’t
find Him, I came across the principle of covenant keeping with God in the
Bible and I decided to take that step.”
“When we enter into a
covenant with Him, He never disappoints us. We are the ones that renege, God
does not renege neither does He forget. When He tells us to remind Him of His
words, it is not because He forgets but just wants us to reiterate our
relationship with Him. My own part of the covenant is to serve God all the days
of my life; I preach, evangelize, motivate and encourage others and God never
fails to continue giving His support.”
Ministry
The
Rose of Sharon Glorious Ministry International
“The
Rose of Sharon Foundation (RoSF) is a private, voluntary, non-profit, faith
based, non-governmental organization focused on easing the burdens of existence
of widows and orphans. It was founded in 2005 and began full operation in May
2008, and it’s based in Nigeria
with a vision to expand into other parts of the country.”
“We are guided by the belief that every life has equal value, RoSF works
to help widows and orphans live productive lives. We focus on economic
empowerment programmes through grants and funding for business initiatives,
promoting good health and creating a chance to ease the burdens of extreme
poverty.”
“We believe that if a widow is economically empowered, when a child
is given access to education, then the chance to reach their full potential can
be realized and better chances of escaping poverty. This can transform and
bring change to a family, community and country. Through a spiritual
revelation, God called the Rose of Sharon Foundation into existence for the
sole purpose of being an instrument to be used to make a difference in our
society”.
The
foundation has directly provided grants to more than 973 widows, given
educational assistance by the awards of scholarships to 1,366 widows’ children
and 86 orphans up to tertiary level. It also aims to collaborate with strategic
partners (private and government agencies), to provide basic financial
management skills, grow business strategies and generate new business ideas.
Due
to the high demands of skilled labourers in various disciplines in Nigeria, the
Foundation is building a world class vocational and skills acquisition centre
in Lagos to meet this need, and also, to create job opportunities for its
unemployed youth. This will be replicated in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria
(Southwest, Southeast, South-South, North Central, Northeast and Northwest).
.
Books Authored
University of Marriage, The
Cry of Widows and Orphansandher autobiography, Growing with the Hand that Gives
the Rose.
My Wisdom
“My wisdom pill is: What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well’,
otherwise, don’t even bother, don’t even start.
One of God’s major virtues is excellence and his desire is that we
should emulate Him. I like to dot my ‘I’s’ and cross my ‘T’s’. I like to do
things properly and with passion. Also I don’t believe in cutting corners,
because if you cut corners God will be waiting for you at the turn of the
corner.
What need to have
"The spirit of God in you, be honest, compassionate and
love others as God has loved us all.”
As a mother
“Hardwork, resilience, perseverance and compassion are all virtues I
picked up from my mother. She was a no-nonsense woman. I learnt not to take no
for an answer, always believing there is always a way out of any situation. I thank
God for her life. At that time, my siblings and I used to think our mother was
a very difficult woman, but I later realized that God used her to prepare,
mould and shape me into who I’m today.”
“When I was growing up,
we did
house chores from morning till afternoon, and it was when we finished that we
were allowed to eat. Now, as a result, I don’t find fasting too difficult for
me to undertake.
Today,
I occasionally wash our private toilet myself;
I don’t see anything demeaning in
any house chores. I wonder why others are baffled that I still cook at times,
in spite of having a cook. I’m a wife, mother and grandmother who enjoys all
these rolls.”
How women can be catalyst for change
“There
are different ways; we don’t all have to be politicians. Women can speak out
their views and provide solutions to social, economic and political problems
without being directly involved in politics. Everyone is entitled to an opinion
and that does not make you a politician. You can encourage those around you, if
you cant do it directly. We can use our different gifts to achieve collective
goals. We can join in conversations on TV or radio. It is still part of
national development because you never know who might be listening, it could be
the president or ministers listening and this could be forum where they get
ideas. Women can also send mails to people in leadership. This could be
catalyst for change or a debate could be started.”
How to shape marriage positively
“They
should never wish to be something else or someone other than whom God has
created them to be. Women must appreciate the handwork of God in their lives
and make the best use of it. They must be submissive to their husbands.
Submission is very important and many don’t realize that it helps to shape
marriage positively.”
“A woman can know how to cook and might be very beautiful, but if she
is not in submission to her husband, she can ruin her marriage with her own
hands. When a woman applies wisdom and chooses to do everything according to
the will of God, with the key of submission to her husband, joy abounds. If you
submit to your husband, your husband
would love you more, he will give you more than you ask for and God will grant
you more than you ask for or imagined, because He knows that you are operating
according to His will for marriages. Even if that man is bad, God can use your
obedience to answer and honour you.:
Child Training
“We are
teaching our six-year-old grand daughter about Jesus every day, even our
one-year-old grandson is taken to church regularly.”
An awesome key to have
“Some people belong to other faiths and they ask God for guidance.
Some people don’t pray at all, and as such, do not ask for divine wisdom to be
better equipped. Well, I was born into a Muslim family, but later in life, I
had the opportunity to meet with Jesus Christ at the age of 40, the rest is
history. I wish I knew Him earlier.” She quips, “for a girl child, going
through these challenges or who finds herself in an awkward situation, I would
like to encourage her by saying that it is not the end of the world, there is
always a brighter side of life. Spiritual guidance is an awesome key. Also,
young girls should look for good role models that can lead and direct them;
people who can help them get to where they want to be, through counseling. The
fact that you’ve found yourself in a nasty situation doesn’t mean God can’t
turn it around for your good and use it for the good of others. It is not the
end of the world, a negative situation can still be turned around to beacon positive
one.”
Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian businesswoman who has replaced Isabel dos Santos as the richest African woman, and also is the richest woman of African descent in the world. She is a business tycoon involved in the fashion, oil and printing industries. She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited and Digital Reality Prints Limited and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited. Alakija is ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion[1] As of 2014, she is listed as the 96th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Source of bio: Wikipedia, Free Encyclopedia
Posted by Ambassador T. Brikins
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