LAGOS born Ambassador for Peace of the Universal Peace Federation at the United Nations, Princess Moradeun Ogunlana, is a woman with many titles and good international recognition. Fondly called The Bridge by friends and associates, Princess Ogunlana grew up in the back streets of Lagos Island. Today, she is easily a world citizen.
“I grew up here in Nigeria,” she said proudly in a conversation with our correspondent. “I was born and bred on Lagos Island. I lived the better part of my early life in Lagos. My father is the son of the late Obanikoro of Lagos, Oba David Ajasa Ogunlana. My uncle is the late Oba of Lagos, Pa Oyekan. That is my lineage.
“I tell people who care to know that I am what can be regarded as a four-sided princess, because my father’s mother is the granddaughter of a former Akarigbo of Remo. So, I am bonded to Ogun State as well. And my mother is a princess from the Republic of Benin. Her mother is a daughter to one of the prominent kings. Her grandfather is from Ilorin. His mother was a Fulani woman and his father was an aborigine of Ilorin. That is why I am classified as a four-sided princess.”
Growing up
Like her ever-travelling ancestors, Moradeun’s father found livelihood in being a personnel of the Nigeria Air force. So, home was everywhere daddy worked or was transferred to! They lived briefly in Enugu, especially with their mother. At another time, they lived in Zaria.
“My mum had a house in Zaria and Kaduna. Also at some point while I was growing up, she had a cold room in Funtua. Mother was a linguist who spoke about seven languages, including French, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. She was very fluent in Hausa, and that enabled her to do so much business in the northern part of Nigeria.”
Family life
Back in her parents’ house on Lagos Island, if you choose to call young Moradeun a tomboy, you would not have been too far from the truth, having grown up with three brothers even though the rest of her six siblings were girls.
She said: “I have a brother that is older than me and I have one that is right immediately after me. The other ones are younger. So the three of us older ones saw ourselves as the ‘three musketeers.’ As the middle one, I was the troubleshooter and mediator between them. They are very gentle and not so troublesome like me. They later studied medicine and both of them are in the medical field. They are very quiet. I am the one always making trouble in the middle.
“My younger brother has a clinic and they are both doing fine in their field. So, I am the one that will go out and say ‘we need some hospitals built over there.’ If my brothers hear, they say ‘okay, what can we do?’ And I would say, yeah, you can do this, you can do that. I can get somebody there that will help us with this. That is one of the good things I do, and I think that is one of the good things that has brought me this far, connecting people and connecting abilities.”
But who did she really end up taking after? Her mother or her father?
“Both in a way,” she said. “My father was ‘The Gentle Prince.’ That is what I call him. He was a man of courtesy who had deep respect for women. We were talking to a very prominent citizen during a recent meeting, and whenever I was getting inside the car, her son would open the door for me and I had to tell him, ‘You know, the last man that did that for me and the only man that ever did that for me was my father while I was in Nigeria in the late 70s and even abroad.’
“At a time, my father was in Canada and when he came to pick us at my grandmother’s place, he opened the door for me to enter the car. That image never left my mind, and it is going to stay with me for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, my father passed away recently. We lost him.
“The last four years of his life, he lived with my brother and I. The three of us were all in Texas then. So, we all took good care of him. He was very proud of the fact that he was ill and we were able to stand by him to take good care of him.”
Her parents’ love story
“My dad was 70 when he died. But I will tell you the story that is even more puzzling. It is the fact that exactly two years later, something happened. My father passed away in 2014. He died on May 19 at exactly 2:31 pm. This year May 19, at exactly 2:31 pm, my mother told my sisters that were there with her that she was so tired and that she wanted to go and lie down. She lay down and that was it. She passed away exactly the same time, same day two years apart.
“That was how close they were. They knew each other when they were little, when they were young and they were really much in love with each other. So, when I got the call that she was gone, I was taken aback because I was even getting ready to make a post on the social media that two years ago, we lost a gem in the person of my father. I wanted to do something like that in his honour. I was getting ready to write the post when I got the call that my mother was gone. And all I kept saying was ‘the same day, the same time! I kept on saying that in great bewilderment. She was exactly 70 as well.
“He was Prince Richard Adeniji Ogunlana and my mum was Alhaja Jemlat Adeola Ogunlana. My mother was a Muslim while dad was a Christian. They met in a very rare circumstance. My mother was born in Benin Republic and she came to Nigeria speaking only French and Yoruba, and when she came over here, she needed somebody to tutor her in English. That was how my father came into the picture. They fell in love and the rest is history. So, you can see they really lived and loved each other.
Lessons I learnt from my parents’ lifestyle
A child’s parents, they say, are the child’s first role models. So it has been with Princess Ogunlana. “My mother used to say be truthful to yourself, no matter what you do. And my father always said there are always good people. He said no matter how bad the situation could be, there is always a good thing coming out of it. Those two things I never forget.
“My biggest motivation while growing up was my maternal grandmother. She is a self-made woman. When my father and mother both left for Canada, we were living with my paternal grandmother. So she turned out to be the one who left that impression of caring and making sure that not only do you get food on your table to eat but people around you get to eat also. Make sure there is something always there for people around you.
“She left that impression in my mind, and that is one of the reasons why we cannot just rest until people around the world get the desired peace they need. It has also left with me the ability to celebrate people all over the world. And we are doing a lot of the celebration with our group, especially when we are talking about women all over the world.
Sojourn abroad
“I left Nigeria for the United States of America after my high school and I actually went to live in the State of Arkansas in the United States of America,” she recalled. Little did she know that fortune was about to smile on her. Soon after, she started playing in the big league of international society of commerce and diplomacy, and ever since, she has not looked back.
Ambassador Princess Moradeun Ogunlana, as she is fondly addressed, is the President/CEO of Innovative Global Consulting Group of Companies. “It is an infrastructure, energy, business and economic development corporation connecting businesses in Africa to the world,” she explained.
“I was recently inducted at the Universal Peace Federation at the United Nations as an Ambassador for Culture uniting USA and China by promoting culture, development and health wellness among women of the world and equally promoting peace. We have been doing a lot of things around the world in the last three years. I have also been a two-term commissioner with the Little Rock Cities Commission, Arkansas, USA, and one of the first black women to make history in business and diplomacy in the city of Arkansas.”
Certainly not an easy feat for a black woman to accomplish, especially as also said rkansas was at a time a tough racial spot.
She said: “When I first arrived in Arkansas in the 80s, it was a very racially segregated city. Now I look back to those days and recall some of the things I did then with nostalgia. Indeed, I did a lot of things. I was one of the first in terms of African-Americans to build relationships. I mean a person of colour for instance, to have a clothing store there. I had a clothing store because I was so busy taking African culture to the world. That was what I sold to America.
“I was one of the first to have a black business in an environment dominated by white people. So, I was the face of African business and, of course, I had a network of great friends over there with which I did great exploits around the world. I mean beautiful people.
“Arkansas is a place I call the quiet giant. I call it that because after we were able to break what I call the racial ceiling, we discovered that some of these acts were not even done deliberately. It was just because people didn’t know where their boundaries ended and where they needed it to begin. So, what I did was simple. I was the one that helped to cross some of those boundaries. And after I had crossed those boundaries, it was okay for everybody else to do the same.
Both sides later found out and said, ‘Oh, so, we could do this? These people are not as bad as we thought.’ When you really find time to know a white person, you find that they actually love just like we do. So, we had to cross that bridge. I actually stepped into some zones because most of the time then, we stayed in our comfort zone and we didn’t want to step out of it. So, that was what I did, and I think it was my father’s nature in me that sprung out.”
How she gained prominence in USA
“I graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1991 with a B.A. degree in Journalism. I later studied International Consulting and Public Health Policy from Southern California University. My activities at the Chambers of Commerce and how I was able to connect people and bring businesses together thereby creating inter-racial relationship earned me the sobriquet The Bridge.
“I was part of the new generation of black people who brought lots of innovations to Arkansas. I was later appointed as a member of the Chamber of Commerce. The very year President Bill Clinton was appointed, we were actually the one who hosted Clinton at that time. We had relationship with countries like China, South Korea and other like mind nations. We exchanged ideas for global socio-economic and socio-cultural benefit. I served my two-term tenure a total of ten years as a Commissioner with Little Rock Sister Cities Commission. I was then appointed by the Mayor of Little Rock as a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador.
A citizen of different worlds
Having lived much of her early life in Nigeria and also grown and melted comfortably into the American society, we asked her what the peculiar differences are between the American society and Nigeria. Princess Ogunlana had this to say: “There are lots of differences and there are lots of similarities too. That is because one thing is certain: people are people, no matter where they live on planet earth. You have good people and you have bad people. When you are unique, you will make people buy into your ideas. So, you can connect ideas with maximum benefit, and that is where I made a difference.
Ever energetic, Princess Ogunlana set up The Global Summit Group Incorporated, which works in conjunction with international bodies across the world. The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of African Women’s Health Project International, a role she also plays, is the Chairman of the Global Summit Group Inc., among many other global concerns she is active on.
Speaking on that platform, she said: “Globally, a lot of our people in the Diaspora and those living on the continent of Africa have come to realise that it is up to us to develop our continent. This is not about somebody coming from outside to come and help us change our fortune because all the human resources we need are all here for our development, especially in Nigeria.
“Our country Nigeria is the central part of Africa and this is not a coincidence. If you even look at the map of Africa, you will see Nigeria lying directly at the epicenter. God has deposited so much on this land, so it is up to us to change our own destiny for good.
“It is up to Africa to stand for her own greatness. Whether we are Nigerians living here or in the Diaspora, definitely, we want to be part of a change in our country.”
So, when Princess Moradeun Ogunlana visited Nigeria recently, she came with a mission. Armed with a connection to another princess from the ancient Bini Kingdom, Mrs. Caroline Adeneye, a lawyer and wife of the Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Dayo Adeneye, she came to deliver a message to the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, in her capacity as the Convener of the Global Summit on Women Empowerment.
“This year, the Global Summit on Women Empowerment in October will showcase the good works of some first ladies around the world. These will be ‘Her Excellencies’ that are doing great things with their platforms as wives of state’ executives or heads of corporations and NGOs; first ladies who are actually doing things from their hearts to develop humanity in their own spheres of influence.
“When we took an x-ray of such people in Nigeria to see who could fit into our hall of fame to be the honorary recipient of the Global Lady Icon Award, we discovered Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, the First Lady of Ogun State, who runs an NGO called the Uplift Development Foundation, which has shown genuine course to the development of ordinary people in Ogun State.
“For instance, her NGO, Uplift Development Foundation, is one of the biggest poverty alleviation movements in Ogun State that is changing lives in a rare manner. We went online and we saw pictures of great achievements she made with UPLIFT Development Foundation.
“Uplift Development Foundation has over 18 subs-derivatives that cater for various sets of people in the various strata of the society. The one that gives a particular amount to aged women monthly is there. The one that gives skills acquisition strictly to the girl-child in the state is equally there. The one that de-worms school children in Ogun State, the one that discovers talents and sharpen them up for success; very amazing things we discovered about Mrs. Amosun and we said, of course, she is the one we think can conveniently stand with other female global achievers who have achieved something in their various endeavours.
“Can I share some testimonies we got while researching her with you? Do you know Akpan Udoh, the best Nigerian under 17 goalkeeper who brought Nigeria an Olympic medal recently, was discovered by Mrs. Amosun through her Uplift Football Team in 2013? Now, that singular act of patriotism revealed two things about Mrs. Amosun. One, her Uplift Football Team Project, which is one of the over 18 Derivatives of her Uplift Development Foundation, goes around the three senatorial districts in the state to search for skilled footballers and sport loving kids and sponsor their talents with her resources. That is another area Africa is lagging behind. Not every child wants to go to school, but there are lots of kids with hobbies that could be monetized in the long run. Mrs. Amosun is seeing this big picture and she is extending her gesture towards that.
“Secondly, Akpan Udoh is not from Ogun State. It is possible he is one of the many ordinary Nigerians from far flung distances who live in Ogun State. Yet Mrs. Amosun saw nothing bad in uplifting him and many others. She uplifted Akpan to the glory of her selfless service in Ogun State. But today, Akpan has given back to Nigeria. That is a milestone achievement we cannot take for granted.
“However, the one that really touched our heart the more was during her 50th birthday recently. Instead of going into a ‘receiving spree’, Mrs. Amosun decided to go into a ‘giving spree’. And that was extraordinary. She launched a Green Revolution project for rural women on her 50th birthday and invited the wife of the President and Vice President of Nigeria to the event.
“I learnt that the wife of the President asked other first ladies to emulate her ideas as it was something Nigeria needed at this moment. That is a presidential endorsement. Not only Nigeria is in need of a Green Revolution in Arkansas. We cherish such lofty ideas because Arkansas is a farming state.
“On her 50th birthday, she also went under the bridge in Abeokuta to pick women selling adire traditional clothing with no option of ever renting a shop in their lives. She rented shops for so many of them just to take them off the hazards of selling their wares on public roads and equally empowering them. I personally have not seen that kind of passion for charity before. I am deeply touched and these, among several other things we discovered about her led us to our decision to honour her at the Global Council of Women for Development’s First Ladies forum and Economic Development Summit in Washington DC in October. She is one of the ambassadors of Global Change among ordinary people. She will also be a speaker at the First Ladies’ Forum and Economic Development Summit in Washington DC.
