Amaka Chibuzo-Obi is the founder of Wivesroundtable – an organisation dedicated to using media to empower women with valuable information, tools and resources to help them lead wholesome lives.
In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, she speaks on how she uses her
Wivesroundtable TV, radio and foundation to empower and improve the lives of women across Nigeria.
What inspired you to set up Wivesroundtable and when did you launch the organisation?
I was inspired to start Wivesroundtable a few years after I got married because I realised that, back then, there weren’t any platforms for married women in Nigeria to express themselves – their thoughts, opinions, hurts and pain as well as share their experiences and lessons, to teach and help other married women. So Wivesroundtable first started as an anonymous online platform that gave women an opportunity to truly speak out about their innermost thoughts, desires and frustrations and to get other married women respond to them – all in a no-judgment zone. This online forum later evolved to become the Wivesroundtable radio show.
Since then, The Wivesroundtable Show has gone through several pockets of evolution – going from a platform for married women to share their thoughts and experiences to a platform where every woman (married, single, divorced) can get access to relevant and valuable information that will help them lead wholesome lives.
Could you explain what the organisation is about and what it seeks to achieve/address?
Wivesroundtable is basically, about women empowerment through valuable information. At Wivesroundtable, we know that, if people know better, they will do better. And this is why we have dedicated ourselves to bringing valuable information that matter, to The Woman, so she can use this information to better her life and live to the fullest of her potential.
With the proliferation of the internet, there is a plethora of information out there, within reach of everyone but useful, meaningful and positively life transforming information is in short supply.
This is why, at Wivesroundtable, we seek to address the need of women seeking the right knowledge delivered to them by people who have their best interest at heart.
What success stories have you recorded from Wivesroundtable radio and TV show since you commenced?
There has been so much tangible and intangible successes recorded through the Wivesroundtable Show. Husbands who write in to ask that God bless us for the transformation they see in their wives because of information they have received on the show, entrepreneurs who record significant improvement in their business through tips and hacks gotten from the show, couples who record improved relationships from tips gotten on the show. But our most cherished achievement, the one that we are very proud of till date and are so happy about anytime we remember are the babies conceived and born through information and referrals given on the Wivesroundtable radio show. As at our last count, we had over 15 of such babies.
It is a privilege to be a part of a ministry (I call Wivesroundtable a ministry, actually) that brings transformation to people’s lives, even without knowing or meeting them.
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As the founder of The Wivesroundtable Foundation, how many female entrepreneurs have you empowered through this foundation and what skills are they taught?
The Wivesroundtable foundation has one objective – to better the lives of women in our immediate community. It has executed various projects and initiatives in the two years of its existence.
We have set up nine women in a small scale business through the ‘empower her’ project. We also have trained about 11 women in business processes and mindset makeover. We clothed over one hundred women and their children with decent clothes and also helped 65 women in our community with palliatives during the lockdown.
Currently our focus is on empowering low income female entrepreneurs with digital skills so they can learn how to leverage technology to improve their businesses. This initiative is called the D.A.M.E initiative and we hope to empower 10,000 female entrepreneurs in 5 years, through this initiative. It is our hope and prayer that we get the necessary funding to pull this project off successfully within the time frame.
Do you think Nigeria provides an enabling environment for females to thrive in their careers and businesses?
It is no secret that Nigeria is largely a patriarchal society and in every patriarchal society, women have to fight to be heard or recognised. I am however very happy at how far we have come as a nation, today, as we see more and more women break the mythical glass ceiling daily in the news. At no time in Nigeria history, have we had six women being bank MDs at the same time. But we have it today, here in Nigeria. So, even though more can be done to level the playing field for women as for their male counterparts, I am happy that women are rising to the occasion and taking bold strides towards thriving and being successful in their careers and businesses.
Are there still places in Nigeria that promote primitive laws that relegate women to the background especially as regards pursuing their careers and visions in life?
I would say, every region or area in Nigeria still, to an extent, have rules (sometimes, unwritten) that relegate women to the background. You hear things like “a woman’s place is in the kitchen and the other room”. You also hear people ask ambitious career women “what are you looking for, wouldn’t you go home and take care of your family”.
Subtle gabs such as these promote the ideology that women are supposed to be relegated to the background. This is a warped ideology that Wivesroundtable and thankfully, so many other women-centered organisations, are looking to conquer.
If these primitive cultures still have a strong hold in Nigeria, how can this be addressed?
Education. This is the only way to change age-long mindset. And by education, I don’t necessarily mean the formal kind only, even though that is highly essential. There is also the informal kind of education we do in our communities and through media like Wivesroundtable talk show. However, the most important aspect of education, in my opinion, is modeling. Actually showing people what can be done by doing it. So when women put in the work, thrive and succeed, they show other women what is possible and they show the men who still think that women should not be heard, that women are capable of whatever height they choose to attain.
What has been the experience running a TV show, radio show and a foundation? How do you manage all of these such that no one suffers?
It’s been an experience! I have had so many joys, tears, frustrations and triumphs but honestly, there is nothing I’d rather be doing!
We have run the radio show for 8+ years, with over 400 episodes of the program. We started the TV show in this 3rd quarter of 2021. The foundation started operations in 2019.
In all these, I still have a family to carter to. There is no way I would have been able to do them all successfully without help. A great team makes the dream work and God has been faithful in helping me pick a great team.
I am also a strong advocate of balance for women as I recently authored a book titled – “Balance in Stilettoes, Finding harmony in an overwhelming world”. This book is a practical guide on how women can do what they need to do without losing their minds. And one way, as outlined in the book, is by delegating. I delegate, without guilt. Because I know how important it is for me to keep my sanity, for the greater good.
You are passionate about empowering females across Nigeria; how did you find yourself doing this?
I have always believed that, a woman is a strong influence in every family. I strongly believe in the quote by Koffi Annan that says “When women thrive, all of society benefits and succeeding generations are given a better start in life”. This is why I do what I do – to do my bit to create a better world. And this is also why I trained as a Life and Confidence Coach for women, so that I can support women even further to build the confidence they need for visibility, impact and profit.
Advanced countries continue to appreciate the place of women in leadership and are making deliberate efforts and laws that promote gender equality. Where is Nigeria in this development?
The journey of a thousand miles, they say, begins with a step. I say that, it actually begins with a decision. From what we see going on around us today, with banks and other organisations giving more women opportunities to lead, I will say that Nigeria has at least, started on the journey. There is still a long way to go and a lot to be done, but at least, we are seeing some promising signs. I am confident it will keep getting better and we, at Wivesroundtable will keep doing our best to equip women, starting from our mindset, to see the possibilities that abound and to provide them with the information and tools they need to live to the fullest of their potentials.
