by
Precious Nwosu
2018 saw the debut of American musical producer Metro Boomin, whose single Not All Heroes Wear Capes featured well-known musicians. What and who he had in mind when he sang this song, only he knows but Roseline Adebimpe Adewuyi, a feminist, gender advocator, and social educator, fits the description perfectly. Adewuyi, a hero although without a cape, devotes her life to the development of the girl child out of a passion for social work. She also helps young, developing girls recognize their worth, strength, and potential and believes there is still much work to be done.
Whilst not doing this solely for recognition, she tells Culture Custodian, she has nonetheless received it. In commemoration of Nigeria’s 60th year of independence, Business Day Women’s Hub featured her as one of 60 remarkable women in 2020. She has additionally appeared as a guest for live interviews on national broadcast networks including Nigeria Authority Television (NTA) and Radio France Internationale (RFI), and she has been highlighted in publications like the Nigerian Tribune, and other reputable Nigerian dailies. Adewuyi received the Berenice A. Carol Feminism, Peace, and Social Justice Award from the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Program at Purdue University in the United States for her initiative titled “Breaking the Stereotypes and Reimagining the Woman.”
For the International Day of Girl Child on October 11, which began in 2012, Roseline began a project that encourages the development and fosters the growth of the girl child. Culture Custodian meets with her to discuss this.
What was growing up like in childhood? And what woke your passion for social work?
Growing up was fun. I grew up in a loving home and owe a lot of who I am to my parents because they were so important to my development. They left me with many principles, morals, virtues, and legacies. Speaking about my love for social work, I was a very inquisitive child who had many questions about things that looked strange to me. So, I questioned why boys and girls were treated differently and why I was often silenced when I spoke out on my inspirations as a girl, and frankly, I couldn’t find a satisfactory response. As an arts student in secondary school, I read a lot of literature books and became more aware of how young girls and women are marginalized in society. Secondary school was also where I realized that girls weren’t taken seriously. Consequently, there was a time in school when a teacher referred to the senior guy as the top student at the school and the senior girl as his assistant. Why should the boy be the most important citizen when the female or both can be? These all bothered me. As an introverted person, I struggled when I first started actively advocating during my youth service, but I looked up to excellent introverted advocates and they motivated me. Also, the personal committee service pushed me into starting a project that has blessed a lot of lives.
You studied French in the university, and most parents and Nigerian parents to be exact encourage professional courses. What was their reaction to it?
Throughout secondary school, I studied French and loved the language. So, when I decided to study French at the university, my very enlightened parents were okay with my decision, although they asked why I didn’t choose English or something else. They didn’t push. In conversations with people, especially in school, they often wonder why I studied it or if it was the only course available and felt that I wouldn’t amount to something great in life just studying French. But I chose French and I have never regretted it.
How does your course of study play in your social work and also as a feminist?
Okay, so I studied French literature and I got to analyze novels, movies, documentaries, songs, poems e.t.c. And all my analyses are on the feminist theory and they are based on feminist scholars I carefully select all the work and they are works that talk about the difficulties and marginalization of women. So everything encompasses the social work I do.
Let’s meet your foundation/initiative. What birthed it, and is there a name you call it?
I won’t claim to have a foundation; I simply act independently. It is not registered. I completed my master’s degree in 2017 at the University of Ibadan, where I volunteered, after completing my NYSC. So, I started something in 2017 in honor of the International Day of the Girl Child. I refer to it as Rosie’s initiative. The International Day of the Girl Child gave birth to my effort and starting in 2017, this year’s would be my sixth edition. I also organize projects for school outreaches, especially in Ibadan. My present project is on ‘Ending stereotypes in schools to ensure that girls do not get their thoughts shifted by society and to teach them how they can unlearn certain things.
How has this initiative addressed issues like prejudice and limited learning opportunities for young girls that are gender-based in Nigeria?
My initiative for the International Day of the Girl Child has been working on outreaches around the theme of projects like ‘Ending stereotypes’ which works towards changing subverting mindsets and perspectives. Every year, we arrange speakers to address these young women. The program also includes my mentoring because I work with young girls who occasionally come to me with questions about self-worth, female leadership, and other topics that have given them more self-assurance. Also, I won’t really be overseeing this year’s International Day of the Girl Child as I’m currently not in Nigeria. Instead, it would be a young girl who was a secondary school student when I organized the program in 2018 but is now an undergraduate who reached out to me to be part of the project. She was the one who managed the ‘Ending Stereotypes in School’ program and would also oversee this one happening in Ibadan. It is a big win for me that the value she gained from my previous program is enabling her to do this. Videos I do every year also inspire these girls. And then fathers and brothers also reach out to me to mentor their young girls or sisters because of the impact they have seen so far.
What collaborations and challenges you have faced so far?
When I started gender advocacy during my NYSC, I was able to collaborate with the Ministry of Education in Ilorin. Then when I started the international day of the girl child, I collaborated with different non-governmental organizations like Rival in 2017, Teacher foundation in 2019, and Gertrude Olowo Empowerment Initiative (GOEI) in 2020 and 2021 and also collaborated with another organization that sponsored us with sanitary pads. My friends who are also fashion designers and women-led businesses also support us with gifts. I’m very keen on collaboration as it helps achieve a lot of things
One of my biggest obstacles has been money because managing a project is demanding and getting funds is difficult, therefore I rely on crowd-funding. In addition, certain individuals with eccentric ideologies despise me and my work because they think feminists are toxic and evil. I mean, even before someone meets me, they are already judging me. When I reply to these people, I exercise emotional intelligence and grace because my main goal is not exclusively for acceptance but to create a path for others who will follow, and I’m happy that this is already occurring.
What do you have planned for this year’s International Day of the Girl Child and what are the dreams you have for it in the nearest future, anything bigger?
Both genders will be present this year, and well-packaged events are arranged for them. There would also be a TikTok competition where young girls would make videos about how women can enter leadership roles, and three winners would be chosen based on their performance by predetermined criteria. In contrast to the 150 girls we currently host, my dream is for us to be able to host up to 1000 girls. Also, to partner with major international organizations to make sure the program runs smoothly.
Where do you see yourself in the next four years?
In the next four years, I see myself as a respected international consultant doing things around the development of young girls and women and a renowned speaker for high-level events, and lastly a writer.
Any parting words to the girl finding herself and navigating her way in the society and country at large?
Rewrite your script and redefine who you are. Be the best and do more. Change the narrative, change the discourse. Change their horizon and scope. And lastly, never listen to the voices in your head or the one that stares you in the face, telling you that you should encumber yourself or constrain your expectations. They are all lies.
Precious Uzoma-Nwosu is a Kogi-based content and creative writer with a skill for writing insightful and compelling articles about women, literature, and entertainment. Her work has appeared in Document Women, Opera News, and AAUA Insider; a campus media organization. She currently reviews books for Nwanyinodulokwu’s blog. When she is not writing, she is reading a nice book.