The Royal Servant

t h e

r o y a l

s e r va n t A pri n c ess f i g h t s f o r t h e w o me n and prisoners of N igeria

by KAREN MODEROW

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rincess Oyebiola Oyewumi is a woman of substance and influence in Nigeria, where her father-in-law reigns as king of Ogbomoso, Oyo State. But family status is not what defines her life. A strikingly beautiful woman, the princess has a royal bearing that exudes confidence while her eyes convey compassion and determination. It’s a combination that makes her compelling both as an ally of Africa’s disadvantaged and as a “force to be reckoned with.”

As working royalty, Oyewumi advocates for women and prisoners in Nigeria through the legal system, social programs, and NGOs. Her work is more than a charitable inclination; it’s a passion for which she trained and is qualified to address.

The princess is an attorney with two master’s degrees: one in legal drafting and parliamentary counseling from the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in Lagos and another in family and human rights law from the University of Ibadan.

Her credentials as legislator, her experience as an active member of the International Bar Association, and her royal position make her a uniquely effective leader in shaping Africa’s future. She sits at the table with policymakers from around the world to develop strategies for enacting laws to protect and empower women and families. She participates in international networks that provide financial, personnel, and strategic resources to support women in advocating in A princess who preaches—Oyewumi shares her faith in word and deed. Photo: Billy Grimes PRISM 2008

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Oyemumi’s credentials as a legislator, her experience as an active attorney, and her royal position make her a uniquely effective leader in shaping Africa’s future. Photo: Billy Grimes the surviving wife legal grounds to challenge any relatives who would take what rightfully belongs to her and her children. She prevented the passage of a bill introduced by Muslims to establish Shari`ah law in Oyo State, a law proven to be especially oppressive to women. The princess successfully argued that such a bill contradicted Section 10 of the Constitution of Nigeria, which prohibits the government from declaring any religion as a state religion. In collaboration with several women’s international organizations, she proposed the Women’s Representation Law, passed in 2006, which mandated that at least 30 percent of each level of government positions go to women. She lobbied for the enactment of the 2007 Child’s Rights Act (supported by UNICEF).

Oyewumi’s legislative experience prepared her for her current job as deputy director of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. It is the only court-connected alternative dispute resolution center in Nigeria and Africa as a whole under the auspices of the federal judiciary. Its goal is to reduce the logjam of legal cases in the system by offering another option for justice besides litigation.

One of the problems in Nigeria’s legal system is the length of time prisoners must wait before their cases are heard. The princess says,“Out of every 10,000 inmates, 8,500 are awaiting trail. Most wait 10-15 years. Many have committed minor crimes that are bailable with a conviction of a year or two in jail, but they end up serving much longer. Others die before their cases are heard.”

To address this, the princess pushed for a committee on speedy trial, a team composed of lawyers, the director of public prosecution, the chief judge, and other judges. Once a quarter, they come as a group to the prison with case folders in hand, review cases, and release some inmates immediately.

Each time they meet, 50 to 70 cases are resolved this way.

Oyewumi could have viewed her effectiveness as a legal change agent enough, but her commitment to Nigeria is both strategic and personal. She has always worked with a higher purpose in mind. Though she and her husband, Prince Oyebanji Yemi Oyewumi, are devout Christians who use their influence and resources to help those most marginalized in their society, things took a very personal turn when a friend of hers invited her to visit Agodi Prison.

“My first visit to the prison in 1995 shocked me,” said the princess. “My friend advised me not to get emotionally involved. But how could I not after seeing the desperation and pain the prisoners faced? The sight of the women touched me. Most were pregnant by the guards and warden.

They had no water to bathe. Facilities designed for 50 inmates often housed 500. And because of the overcrowding, most had terrible skin conditions.”

She began by visiting the prison regularly, bringing food,

their own nations.

It was the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, that fueled Oyewumi’s desire to do something about the plight of women in her country. “In Africa, the education of a girl child is not encouraged,” says the princess. With the support of UNICEF and the Women Lawyers Association, she and other women now systematically go into the countryside educating men and women about the value of women in their society.

“We often go to the marketplaces where we stage a play, maybe dance, then we set up a podium and talk to the people.

We tell the men to write a will.Without it, when a man dies, his family sweeps in, taking everything, destroying the wife and their children. We also tell them to send their daughters to school. ‘Look at us,’ we say. ‘Your girls can have a better life.

They can be successful like us if they have an education. It benefits you and it benefits society.’ ” Lack of self -esteem is a real problem for African women.

“For years they have been treated like furniture or cattle, with no rights as a person,” says the princess. “They are often sexually and physically abused. Until recently they could not inherit.”

This to some extent has changed, thanks to the efforts of reformers like Oyewumi. A bill, presently at the federal level, titled the “Violence against Women Bill” would prohibit all forms of inhuman and degrading treatment against women.

The princess recognizes that laws alone do not change the attitudes of a culture, but having legal standing makes change possible.

In her beginning years as a crusader, she focused on impacting the legislative system. For 14 years she served in the state parliament as a legal advisor and drafter of legislation. The substance of her work is impressive. She introduced the Widowhood Inheritance Law, passed in 2003, which grants

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blankets, clothing, medical supplies, and medical personnel to attend to the immediate needs of the inmates. But as she developed relationships with the inmates, she wanted to do more. In 2000, she began Word Alive prison ministries. She and her team of volunteers (five women and seven men) bring the gospel and set up leadership training inside the jail so that the inmates participate in coordinating the ministry’s work from the inside. Besides meeting physical needs, Word Alive provides a wide range of services for inmates, including legal advice and intervention.

But the princess is not content to restrict the ministry to within the prison walls. Word Alive recently secured four acres of land in Ibadan, in Oyo State, to build a halfway house for men and women who go through the Christ-based leader-

ship training program available to them in prison. “A lot of the inmates cannot return home, because their families reject them or they are ashamed,” says the princess. “They need a place to go so that they are not drawn back into a life of crime.”

Word Alive provides housing for newly released inmates as well as vocational training. “We arrange for an apartment and, if needed, subsidize rent for a year or two until they get on their feet. But our goal is to assist them in becoming selfsupporting. We ask them what they want to do, then try to get them whatever training and equipment is needed to help them accomplish their goal.”

The ministry either buys or networks within the community to gather what is needed for an inmate to realize his or

Selling charity to Africa’s wealthy b y K are n M o der o w

Charitable giving is something most Americans take for granted. According to Giving & Volunteering in the United States 2001 (Independent Sector), 89 percent of US households make charitable contributions. But in Africa, people are just beginning to understand that the continent’s own nonprofits have a part to play in its development. In The Role of African NGOs in Africa’s Sustainable Development, author Mamadou Lamine Thiam asserts that “Today, Africa is in the grip of an unprecedented crisis, due essentially to the exclusion of people from the search for solutions to their own problems.”1 While worldwide foreign aid to Africa is legendary,Thiam notes that it has not been particularly effective. “Faced with this situation, African populations are now coming together to take their destiny into their own hands. The proliferation of organizations of peasant and village women with links to NGOs and civil society is a good indication of Africa’s ability to rely upon herself, something of which African NGOs are well aware.”

Oyewumi and her husband are among those who are stepping up to the plate. Their Word Alive prison ministry, which seeks to provide support and assistance for prisoners during and after incarceration, is the kind of NGO African leaders are counting on. However, funding charities in a culture unaccustomed to giving is a challenge. Statistics on African-to-African giving are difficult to find in the absence of a continental data base, but Oyewumi believes giving is

an attribute now missing from Africa’s social conscience that must be taught.

Most of the funding for Word Alive comes from the prince and the princess themselves. They do have some loyal supporters but it has been a struggle to get other Africans, even wealthy Africans, to give. “It’s not like the US, where people are accustomed to give to charity,” she says. “Here people are not used to thinking selflessly. When people get money, they just want to buy a bigger house.”

Getting her wealthy friends to consider giving to those who have need requires a whole new mindset. One effective approach has been to bring her friends to an event where they can meet the inmates. “It’s hard to get them to come to the prison, so we often have programs where they can interact with former inmates who are participating in our ministry.

To those who give to the ministry I say, ‘I am your hands and feet.’”

Then she hopes and prays that they, too, will catch the vision of the joy of serving.

1

he Role of African NGOs is part of Voices from Africa, T a six-book series written by “African authors from a variety of backgrounds expressing their own visions of their continent’s march towards sustainable development.” Accessible at www.unsystem.org/ngls/documents/publications.en/ voices.africa/number6/vfa6.01.htm

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her goal.“One woman wanted to be a seamstress, so we bought her a sewing machine and a small generator,” says the princess, explaining that power outages are common in Nigeria.

“Right now the ministry helps newly released inmates on a one-by-one basis,” she says, “but the facilities to be built on the new property will greatly increase the ministry’s effectiveness.” Plans include a separate hostel for men and women and a workshop for vocational training where the former inmates can learn haircutting, sewing, carpentry, mechanics, plumbing, and a host of other trades. They will also have the opportunity to learn about raising poultry and fish as well as farming.

Oyewumi has no illusions about the difficulties of developing this program. To date nearly a hundred inmates have taken advantage of what is offered through Word Alive. But of this group, only half actually stayed with the program.

Years of crime, abuse, and hard living make it difficult for the people she is dedicated to serve to trust others and believe in their future.

“We are more successful with the women than the men at this point because they’re not as hardened. But we are determined to bring the hope of the gospel to as many as we can reach.”

Oyewumi’s approach to prison work is straightforward: winning the inmates’ trust by visiting consistently and helping provide for their needs; developing good relationships with the prison wardens and guards so they support the work; and celebrating life alongside the prisoners. Sometimes the prison itself becomes the site of a celebration, explains the princess.

“We arrange for them to have water for showers, bring nice clothes for them to wear, then cook a cow and bring in food for a party. We sing and dance. These events give a few hours of dignity and joy to people who desperately need it.”

The demands of Oyewumi’s ministry and professional work fully engage her skills as a businesswoman and a princess.

Networking, organizing, fundraising, and lobbying, along with social and legal expertise, are the tools she uses to fashion her royal, political, and professional worlds together. But what she depends on is the absolute certainty of the gospel’s power to transform lives.

Her certitude remained unchanged even when she herself was victimized by crime. One year, while she and her husband were traveling, a group of bandits broke into their home, tied up the guards, and took everything they could carry.

Teasing her, the prince said, “And these are the people we are helping?”

She admits prison work is not for those who are easily discouraged. Setbacks just motivate the princess to do more.

Today she is working to recruit 10 more women attorneys to help her. “What keeps me going is the response of the

Oyewumi celebrates life alongside the prisoners.

Photo: Billy Grimes

inmates,” she says.

Pastor Abel is one of the success stories. He became a Christian while in prison and trained as a pastor while awaiting execution. Then, miraculously, he received amnesty. “We have a custom that on Independence Day several prisoners are pardoned by the governor. Abel was selected.”

Today Pastor Abel is a husband and father, and as pastor of a local church he works with Word Alive ministries to help inmates transition to life outside prison walls.The transformation of men such as Abel reinforces Oyewumi’s conviction that any person can be redeemed. “Many of those I work with are robbers and murderers,” she says quietly, “but I see them all as beautiful creatures of God.” Rather than hide behind her royal status to avoid the unpleasant realities of her nation’s disenfranchised, Oyewumi uses it to accomplish what others cannot. “I know the prison work is what I am called to do,” she says. “I started out doing this because I wanted to give back. But now I feel humbled. It isn’t hard. It fills me with joy to be able to serve the inmates.” n Karen Moderow is a freelance writer from Atlanta, Ga., who passionately supports training leaders in the developing world to evangelize their own nations. She wrote “The Bishop and the Mango Tree,” about an indigenous Balinese church, in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue.

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