Barr. (Mrs.) Olayinka Oladunjoye, the Honourable Commissioner for Education in Lagos State, is the visionary behind the mind-blowing reforms on-going across the state’s education sector. In this exclusive chat with Vista Woman, she talks about her ministry’s strides since 2011, and also its plans for the future. Excerpts:

For some of us who were classroom teachers at an era when learning and the acquisition of knowledge was much sought after and desired, and both the learners and their teachers were very interested in getting things right, the current deteriorating state of our educational system, is of much concern.

Dr.(Mrs.)Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi is an activist of note within and outside Nigeria. The Executive Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre- WARDC, in this interview, among other issues, she suggests the need for a gender struggle that is less elitist and which would easily accommodate the rural women who largely constitute the female population in Nigeria.

She passed away in the early hours of March 27th, 2013, in San Francisco, USA, at the age of 83. That drew a curtain on our over sixty-year-old friendship! Christy Stallings (nee Tugele) was from Warri but was born in Kaduna.

Addressing her by the conventional title “First Lady…” should have been the norm here, but this is one unique woman who has refused to be addressed by that title. She simply prefers to be called “Wife of the Governor of Ogun State”. In her opinion, such bourgeois titles like “First Lady of..” are distracting.

A 1963 Scotland-trained medical doctor, Prof.(Mrs.)Ibironke Akinsete is one of the few Nigerian women who have engraved their names on the sand of local and international medical practice. Currently the Chairman of PathCare Medical Laboratory, Prof, as she is fondly called, is a Haematologist of great repute. A former Chairperson of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS and Presidential Adviser on HIV/AIDS, she sits on the board of several organisations. Prof Akinsete who will be seventy-five in May stresses the need for preventive healthcare in this interview.

If young people are economically empowered and reoriented to think productively, then Nigeria can be sure to overcome corruption and wastefulness. This is the conviction of Rita Omovbude, the Founder/Project Leader of Street Project, a social enterprise in the heart of transforming the lives of young people.

Mrs. Mubarak Abiola Agusto-Agoro is the President of Soroptimist International of Eko, an international service group comprising women professionals who aim to empower women and girls across the world. An Accountant by profession, Abiola Agusto-Agoro retired from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in 1996 after her long years of service.

Housing is very vital to the human life; for without it, we are no better than the animals whose roof is the sky. Sadly, the sky has become a roof for many city-dwellers in our country, so to say, as homeless people of all ages sleep under the bridges, in market places, in uncompleted buildings, on pavements, and slabs on the roadside. How did Nigerians, particularly those from areas noted for their pride of their ethnic group, family and roots, get to this deplorable situation? Population explosion, mass migration to the urban areas, loss of jobs and consequently of rented premises, all contribute to this.

At a time when many young people are frustrated over their inability to find jobs, 25 year old Mrs. Omotola Aderonke Teriba Abdul, a graduate of Mass Communication, created her dream job for herself. She’s the CEO of Hardey’s Make-Over and Bridal Aso-Oke in Lagos. In a recent encounter with Vista Woman, she shared her passion for creativity and love for business, while also revealing meeting her heartthrob, another embodiment of creativity, with whom she finally tied the knot late last year. Excerpts:

Josenta Ogbhemhe is the CEO of Jojo Bernard’s Couture, a budding fashion outfit in Benin-City, Edo State, that specialises in creating customised clothing. A graduate of Computer Science who says designing has always been her first love, young Josenta is fervently working towards becoming one of Nigeria’s biggest designers. In this interview with Vista Woman, she recalls her childhood love for designing and lets us into her life as a young designer.

Many months ago, some of our senators proposed a leisure centre for elderly citizens. The move was applauded by some people, but in the piece I wrote on it, I said it was a good thing that the senators thought of something to put more zest in the lives of the elderly, but that in a country with dismal healthcare like ours, and where the majority of the elderly are poor, it wasn’t a leisure centre that the majority of them need, but rather, qualitative care in all areas of their lives.

Chief (Mrs)Adeline Ogboaya Balogun is the CEO of New “U” Spa in Lagos. Though a Paris-trained graduate of French with background in Secretarial Administration, the frequent transfer of her military husband (now an Army General) scuttled her ambition of building a career in language.

She was a two-time commissioner in Abia State- Commissioner for Education 2005-2007, Commissioner for Agriculture 2007-2009, and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) deputy governorship candidate at the 2011 governorship poll in Abia State. Dr.(Mrs.)Ori Obasi is a renowned educationist and administrator with a first degree in English Education, two Masters Degrees in education and a Ph.D in Early Childhood Education which she is at the verge of completing. She also holds an honorary Doctorate degree in Education. Dr. Obasi speaks on her life as an educationist, politician and philanthropist in a recent chat with Vista Woman. Excerpts: