Biography
OLAJUMOKE ADENOWO is a multiple Award winning Chattered Architect and has been called the “Face of Architecture” in Nigeria. A pioneer recipient of the keenly contested New African Woman in Business Award from the same stable as the African Banker of the Year Award. She was also nominated at the CNBC All Africa Business Leaders Awards in The West African Business Woman of The Year award category. Olajumoke received the International Alliance for Women World of Difference 100 Award and has also been named one of Nigeria’s 100 most Influential Nigerians and 100 Most Inspiring Women by YNaija, and among Africa’s Most Powerful 10 Women in Business by AFK Insider. Adenowo was featured in Suddeutsche Zeitung’s Plan W. Suddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s leading newspaper among several others and has also been on CNN African Voices, where she was profiled as Africa’s Star architect. Also, she has been featured in the world’s foremost Architectural Journal; Architectural Record and other global personalities of black ancestry in the Hall of Fame, Black History Month by the University of West England, Bristol. She is the Founder, Awesome Treasures Foundation and Principal partner, AD Consulting Limited.
How have you gracefully been able to consistently stay on top of your purpose?
In a nutshell, by the grace of God, focus and the unflinching support of an incredible family and team. I also deliberately cultivate relationships with people who give me unfiltered feedback. I can’t stand sycophancy; if you always agree with me then you are unnecessary! I already know what I think; I need to know what you think! Give me a different perspective!
AD consulting is known for its distinctive, elegant designs and discerning clients, how have you sustained this through the years?
AD’s core Values are EPIC. E for Excellence – I am known as a perfectionist but I know what people are trying to say is that I pursue excellence. Every little detail must be excellent in our projects, that’s why we are also interior architects. This is why we can work with strong brands like Coca Cola International. AD doesn’t stop till excellence is achieved and we have testimonials on our website to prove this. P for Passion. We love what we do in AD, it’s not about money, so we are surprisingly affordable! To us in AD our clients matter – regardless of the size of the project . We respect our clients and pay them attention. I is for Integrity- AD doesn’t compromise on integrity. To maintain the autonomy and independence a consultant needs to deliver value to her client (and just so I can sleep well at night ) integrity is key . Caution to clients – if an Architect’s fees are lower than recommended think about it – what is his plan ? Where will he make up for the lost revenue? The answer is simple – Compromise . If you pay peanuts you get monkeys! It was very validating when the International British Chamber of Commerce contacted us to endorse us as Architectural Service Providers to their members because of integrity and competence. It hit me then that people notice our stand. C is for Creativity – this is why AD buildings always make people gasp. Creativity is innate but is also fuelled by exposure.
What makes the new African Woman Business woman of the year 2016 special among your numerous awards?
Winning The New African Woman Award for the Business Woman of the Year especially from IC Publications which is also behind the equally Prestigious African Banker of the Year, was a humbling experience. I was voted for all over Africa, people from as far as Mozambique had really beautiful things to say. So I got the highest votes of the six finalists and the panel of judges also voted. The whole process resonates with equity and integrity. The very fact that I was nominated for the award at all demonstrated that people are no longer as interested in how much you make but are more interested in how much you give. They wanted someone they could identify with; they wanted someone whose journey is transparent, replicable and based on a clear process not on prebendalism and cronyism.
What necessitated the need for your ‘Where are the real men’ program?
There is a purpose to everything I do – I can’t stand activity for activity’s sake. The “Where are the Real Men” is borne out of the fact that leadership begins within the family . When a man has not yet led himself , has no self control, has not led his own family, his wife and children, how can he lead a local government, a state, a nation? If we attack the leadership gap from the family level and leaders are raised right from the family level we would eventually have a critical mass of leaders to draw from for public service and in the private sector.
Tell us about your yearly summits and its achievement so far.
We have had over 70 quarterly and annual summits with over 10,000 attendees. Awesome Treasures Foundation’s Summits converges women and youths for awareness, recruitment and empowerment in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ghana and London. We had people fly in from all over Europe for our last London Summit which held at the Hilton Park Lane. The next one is slated for October at the QE II Conference Centre in Westminster. Through the summits, the foundation has raised hundreds of entrepreneurs and influential leaders with great success stories who are now change agents and are continuously contributing productively to the development of their community and the society at large. Most of these entrepreneurs and businesses have turnovers ranging between N5m and over N100m annually.
What is the Awesome Awards about? Why was it established and what is it out to achieve?
The purpose of the awesome awards is simple – to celebrate those who reflect the values we cherish in their spheres of operation and influence. Awesome treasures is about discovering, developing and deploying your gift to serve society as a transformational leader.
How do you balance work and family?
Purpose – when you know your purpose it makes it easier to prioritize. God first (and His purpose for me ) family next, AD and Awesome Treasures next. I organise my calendar around my family a year ahead before I fix in other engagements like speaking engagements. However, we sometimes have incidents when the boys’ program suddenly changes and I have to take decisions.
How is Awesome Treasures engaging the youths in general and teenagers now especially since they are on holidays?
For the last 5 years, Awesome Treasures has hosted a summer camp – Camp Dawn . Over 150 inner city children attend. I love the camp because it gives the kids access to the quality of education they would ordinarily have in private schools , if only for a short while . Even in that short while their horizons are broadened forever . We have been sponsoring this vamp solely on our own for years but thankfully Heritage Bank partnered with us to a level last year and we are hoping we would be able to run it again this year if we get corporate or private sponsors.
What burdens you about Nigeria and what is the way forward?
Wasted potential is what burdens me about Nigeria. Indeed it has irked me since I was a young child. How can a country be so gifted and yet suffer so much? What we lack in Nigeria is a critical mass of visionary leaders at all levels. That’s why my burden for 17 years in Awesome Treasures hasn’t flinched, why I have been on radio on Voice of Change for 6 years plus is to raise transformational leaders. My contribution is just a drop in the bucket in the context of the challenges we face but I believe “it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness”.
Women on my mind
There is a growing awareness and understanding across the world of the crucial role women have in building societies and nations. There are more and more conversations about the ways that women have contributed and are contributing to society across sectors, as well as the challenges they face in doing so. As a result, the coverage from news outlets is changing to reflect this. Recently, I was privileged to be the first non-model on the cover of New African Woman magazine, and I had the opportunity to talk about my work with AD Consulting, as well as my work with the Awesome Treasures Foundation, a 17-year-old CSR platform that helps women start their own businesses. This opportunity is part of a new focus by the magazine because, in the words of its editor Gina Jane Jere, “African women should not be judged by the way they look, their hair or dress sense. Although we do love to look beautiful, we are more than that”.
Final words
One of the tasks I have set myself is creating awareness in Nigeria about what Architecture really is and I believe it is our duty as Nigerian architects to do the same. We can’t supply a need for which there is no demand. There is a demand for buildings but not for architecture ( the art and science of designing buildings ). The society is not aware of the tangible value of good design and therefore does not demand good design. Once the walls are straight and the building doesn’t collapse most people are glad! This is subpar! Since the days the Pharaohs commissioned pyramids to preserve their immortality, Architecture has been about aspirations, national identity, national pride. However, our private developers, corporations must realize that it’s not just the government’s responsibility. African Entrepreneurs must be the alternative government and take up the task of Human Capacity Development. We must see our staff not just as resources for the business but as human beings whose potentials we are to discover, develop and deploy. Our firms and organisations are not just situated at locations, these locations are our host communities and we must invest in these host communities- give back to them.
KEMI AJUMOBI
