SOCIETY NEWS

Nana Otedola poses with daughter in new photos

Engineering. I didn’t want to stay at home so I decided to go for it.

When I started I didn’t like it because that’s not what I wanted to do. But by the time I finished my prelim courses in my first year, I didn’t want to change again. It was interesting and challenging and I saw I could do a lot with engineering and so I continued and ended up becoming an engineer.

It was fun: I come from a polygamous home, so we grew up in a large family, and one important thing we learnt was respect. Even if it’s a difference of a day, you must respect that person, and there were rewards for good results. Every end of term, everybody came home with their report sheets and my father would be ready with the gifts to give those who did very well. You never wanted to be the one to be scolded or denied the chance to watch TV, so we learnt to live with hard work.

Our father also taught us to keep our books intact. We weren’t allowed to write our names on our books. He had a typewriter, so at the beginning of each term, once your books had been bought, you’d sit and type your name, cut it and cellotape it to your book. So he taught us how to keep our things together and neat.

Birthdays: when my elder sister and I would wear matching dresses with the sweets and drinks in front of us with a nice white straw house. Even on Sundays when we dressed up, I loved that too. It made me happy.

I have two daughters and it has been wonderful having them. I had to learn to balance taking care of them and my work. Bringing them up was quite challenging and I wanted my kids to turn out right, which I am glad and thank God they did.

Every gift has its own sentiment attached to it. But on my 50th birthday, my daughter gave me a pearl necklace. She was in school and from her savings she was able to buy something really expensive, so I felt really appreciated and overwhelmed. I thought she went a little bit too far to save that much money and get me such an expensive gift. There are a lot of emotions attached to that. It shows you that you have children that appreciate you and appreciate your labour for them. We met in church and that was that.

His quietness; and I’m not quiet, then his analytical approach to taking decisions. Having an idea is one thing but putting it into perspective and taking the right decision is very important: he’s very good at that.

I look forward to going on a cruise with just my friends and me. We’ve been planning it for a while but we still haven’t been able to do it. A trip without men, just us the girls, no stress, I’ve always wished we could do that. It would be fun.

I also wish I could be on holiday sincerely because I have quite a lot going on for me right now and there’s so much stress attached to it. So I wish I could just close everything and go on holiday.

I wish I had a boy. I looked forward to having a set of twins: a boy and a girl. I love twins and I wish I had them. It would have been lovely.

I also wish to retire and move to a nice quiet and isolated place with a farm, away from the city, with a nice sport car to come out with to enjoy myself in the evening.

I play my nice Christian music: it gives me a lot of sanity and allows me to enjoy whatever I’m doing. I love Nathaniel Bassey, but once in a while I enjoy listening to old school too, from the 60’s and 70’s: they remind me of good times. I check my official email right after my morning prayers to catch up on what I missed at night. I love a good wristwatch.

Heels give you a nice bounce. But work, I want to be able to move around, and it wouldn’t be proper to wear slippers around, so I wear a comfortable pair of shoes or heels.

I actually don’t have one. I’ve travelled to a number of places and I enjoy wherever I can go to enjoy my peace. I sleep, especially during weekends. I don’t go out unless necessary. I enjoy my quiet time. “Nothing comes easy.” Pounded yam with ogbono soup.

Wear something comfortable, good looking and be happy in it. I don’t have one.

I love the fragrance of Hermes d’Voyage. For shoes, I love my Salvatore Ferragamo heels; they’re really comfortable, and for bag, I love my Hermes: it’s black and so lovely.

She used to say many things that still ring in my head, but there’s one that resonates very often, “Always be good in whatever you’re doing so that you can hit your target.”

I love navy blue. I love my Hyundai; it’s comfortable for me. I’m not a sport person but once in a while I do some exercises at home. I love the harmattan because I hate the rain.

Monday: it’s usually hectic but you’re able to prepare what you want to do for the week and plan towards achieving them.

I’ve had someone who taught me to grow up, aspire for the best and also, taught me to also be a role model to others, Engr. Ebele Okeke. She taught me to work hard as an engineer and pushed me early in life into leadership, so I give it to her.

God has given you all that is needed as woman to excel in Engineering - inquisition, managing problems, being calculative, just name it. So I‘ll say, “Girl go for it, it’s in you to succeed!”

Wife of billionaire Femi Otedola, Nana was spotted in the company of her daughter, Florence Otedola, more commonly known as DJ Cuppy in Lagos.

Nana has been under radar recently known to be living in London meanwhile, Cuppy moved back to Lagos back in September.

Mr. Clifford Udeh and Miss Shekirat Adetona, two youth corpers serving in Sokoto state, have received a recognition award for their outstanding performance in their various place of primary work, from the Sultan of Sokoto, Sultan Abubakar Sa’ad III.

The NYSC state coordinator, Alhaji Musa Abubakar, encouraged serving corps members to be diligent and hard working in their various place of primary assignment irrespective of where they are posted to, especially those posted to rural areas. 29