The immediate past Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture in Lagos State, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, is a woman of many parts. A pharmacist by training, she is also a successful industrialist, who between 2015 and 2023 served as commissioner in charge of four different ministries in Lagos and left indelible legacies in all. Uzamat will mark her 50th birthday next Saturday. Ahead of the event, she spoke with journalists about her growing up, issues that shaped her personality and her dreams for the future.Thank you for that question. I think the question is why this celebration? It’s looking at how far you have gone in life and the grace that God has bestowed on you. That is when you decide that this kind of celebration is worthwhile.When I lost my father, it was like the world wanted to crumble on me because I saw him as my pillar of support. I couldn’t imagine a life without the loving father he was. I was still in secondary school then and it was tough with my mother. I would have dropped out of school when the man passed on but because I promised my father that I would make sure I graduate from a university, I soldiered on. And how did I make that promise? A teacher came to report me to him that I was not serious in school and he felt disappointed. I told him not to mind the teacher and promised him that I would study up to the university level and bag a certificate.I was nurtured by guys; I was in their midst. So, I know how tough it was growing up with them. My brothers were very tough with me when we were growing up. That alone prepared me to face anybody in life. To me, if I could face these ‘lions’ in the house and survive, I can face anybody. I have never found myself anywhere a man will be a threat to my life and my ambitions. We are all human beings and we are equal. No man can tell me that because I am a lady or a woman, you can’t do this or that. I will tell you that the only thing you can do that I cannot do is may be going to war. If it’s going to war, I will sit at home. But outside that, if it’s about intellect, maturity and mind, we are all equal. So, I don’t feel threatened at all. So, that prepared me for my journey in politics and it’s good for me.I think I’m a bit fortunate; I grew up in a very large family and we are very accommodating. I have gone through so many experiences in life. However, I was fortunate to have the best permanent secretaries when I was coming in afresh into the system and that really helped me to understand their roles and expectations.It’s a mindset. For me, I am being propelled by my goals. So, you can only be exceptional when you have a force that is driving you, a positive driving force. I think that’s what really helped me.The Ibile Youth Academy is my child that I gave birth to during my time at the Ministry of Youth and Social Development. The products of that academy have made Lagos State proud everywhere they go.Recently, somebody asked me about the slot for women in a programme and I told the person that we are not handicapped as women. Let’s go to the field and sort it out. I don’t see why I should be craving special attention. I am a woman with a difference. Whatever I want to do, I don’t need to beg people because I’m a woman; they will be looking at me with pity. I don’t want to hear ‘leave her because she is a woman’ in anything that concerns me. I will leave you because you are a man.I was born on May 25, 1974. So, by the grace of God I will be 50 years old next Saturday. I want to celebrate it in my usual way and in some unusual ways.
The usual way of celebrating myself yearly is to give back to society, to the less privileged. I think I took that from my mother. So, we will be visiting hospitals and orphanages. I also have many youths that I love to mentor, who are looking up to me. I am going to sit down with them in a room and give them the opportunity to ask whatever question they want to ask about me. I will avail myself to them. If they have a speaker of choice they would want me to invite, I will try as much as possible to bring whoever they might have chosen.
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