black woman in Africa, many knew
Folorunsho Alakija as a creative designer with
the Supreme Stitches label, which she later
named Rose of Sharon Creations. She's also
the Executive Director of Famfa Oil and
Visioner of Rose of Sharon Foundation, an
NGO that caters for widows and orphans in
Nigeria. Below is Mrs Alakija's story as told
by her:
The story going round was that you got
the oil block through the connection of a
former president's wife. Is that true?
God has told me I shouldn't fight for myself.
He said He will fight for me. My God has
always fought for me. I believe there are
some who say that , those who have drawn
their own conclusion to suit what they would
rather hear than believe that there is a God
that actually opens doors, that there is a God
who actually favors one, that there is a God
who does not come down but will use any
means to honor his children, to uplift his
children, to promote his children. When they
begin to know the God that I have known,
they will stop saying such things. I will
continue to give glory to God for what He has
done for my family and it is not about
anyone or person because I believe that if
that were so, then she would have given oil
blocks to all the people that were sewing for
her. I was not the only one sewing for her, I
was not the closest person to her. There are
many people who are closer, they didn't get
oil blocks. I believe all this noise is all
because I am a woman. There are other
people who got oil blocs while they were in
government who are not women and who are
not being challenged. I don't know what all
the noise is all about. Only God can promote
people, regardless of your gender or age.
How come you don't add "Dr" to your
name, instead of just Mrs. Alakija?
It's all about my belief. I believe that an
honorary doctorate or any honorary
university degree does not really confer on
me that title, since I did not study for it in
university. So, I chose to leave that to those
who actually went to university for such
doctorate degrees. I'm filled with gladness
and a lot of gratitude but I choose not to use
it as a title.
I don't think life is about titles. I believe that
life is more about who God is and how
awesome He is. It's not the title that makes
you a person or makes you a man. It's your
legacy that makes you what you are and what
you have been able to achieve. Titles belong
to God.
You always talked about making a
covenant with God. What is this covenant
you made with God that made you
famous? When I came to Christ, I began to
appreciate the awesomeness of God. I saw His
presence, power and might suddenly in all the
things around me to the extent that I started
to appreciate flowers, animals and how He
created human beings and things and how we
use those things. I began to ask questions and
appreciate that awesome power of God so
much that I began to search the scriptures. I
began to grow in the Lord, I began to get
closer to Him, I began to develop a
relationship with Him, I was looking for God
everywhere. I had applied for an oil licence
and we were facing so many challenges with
the applications. We had applied for several
blocks and it seemed we may not get the
licence. It got to a stage that I didn't know
what God could do or couldn't do, but I knew
He could do everything but it just seemed it
wasn't coming through. It seemed that each
time a minister of petroleum was changed,
we needed to reapply and it seemed our
application wasn't getting any headway.
Sometimes our faith waned and at that point I
just decided that rather than throwing in the
towel, rather than giving up, it will be better
to make a covenant with God, because God
never fails when you make a covenant with
Him. I noticed that in the Bible, so I decided
to take that challenge. I made a covenant with
Him that if He blesses me, I will work for
Him all the days of my life and that is what
He has done. He has been extremely
faithful. He is the one that made a way for
us, and it wasn't our doing at all.
So many people want to be like Mrs.
Alakija. Could you give them advice or tell
them the secret of your success? What
makes you tick? The secret of my success as I
have told you over and over is that I got
close to God. I realize and appreciated His
presence in this world. I chose to partner
with Him and He has been faithful. I am a
workaholic but the only reason I don't
attribute the award of an oil block to hard
work is because it's a combination of several
things. You can work hard all the days of
your life and not get anywhere with it. So,
it's the grace of God and that is the most
important part. I will continue to give him
glory for it.
You are above 60 years. What's the secret
of this your lovely figure?
I can say that every year, if I sum up all the
days that I exercise, they cannot be more
than six weeks. It can't be the exercise. I eat
anything and at anytime of the day, so I know
it can't be dieting. I still go for massaging but
not as often as I should, so I have drawn a
conclusion in my heart that it can only be
God's grace. I enjoy God's grace and when we
pray, we have to believe this in our hearts. I
constantly ask Him for strength in my inner
being and He continues to give it to me. I can
go on for hours working without looking
back. My mother trained all her children to
be able to work for several hours of the day
and not even remembering to eat. It wasn't
because she wanted to starve us but she
brought us up in such a way that we just had
to learn to work hard. I do all the wrong
things as far as losing weight and looking
good is concerned . There is a song that says:
"people dey ask me say, wetin dey make me
fine, I just dey tell them say na Jesus dey
make me fine". I dey fine, I dey fine, I dey
fine, I dey fine, I dey fine, fine fine, I just dey
tell dem say, na Jesus dey make me fine."
Source: The Sun
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