By Kammonke Abam & Tammie Edet Kammonke
She is in a class of her own. She’s incredibly endowed with unusual creative abilities. She’s a suave businesswoman and fashion icon, described by her admirers as one of Nigeria’s quintessential style-makers. Today, January 3, she turns 60.
To those who know her closely, Obioma Liyel Imoke, daughter of Zion, wife, mother, entrepreneur, political activist, is simply phenomenal. She has achieved unprecedented success in business, public life, and personal endeavours.
Lurked in her is undiscovered transformational leadership endowment. She possesses administrative acumen and action-performance grace that makes her effortlessly transform any space she finds herself in. She is a leader who has mastered the art of multitasking.
Although married to the equally classy Liyel Imoke, a nationally known political brand, she has carved a niche for herself as a hugely successful entrepreneur. She’s known by the strides she has made in life. She is credited with owning the first indigenous discount supermarket in Nigeria, Value Mart Supermarket, in Lagos, a business she opened in the early 90s. Value Mart soon became a family supermarket which catered to the day-to-day needs of families resident in the Victoria Island area of Lagos. A power couple, both Mrs. Imoke and her husband, ran the shop as a family business.
The passion and efforts they put into the business soon translated into good returns on their investment. Valuemart was a pioneer in incorporating a delicatessen into its range of products and services at a time when there were no grocery stores that had a butchery. The success of the shop brought them fame, public recognition and awards. ValueMart now has two branches in Abuja: Wuye and Maitama, as well as a branch in Calabar, Cross River State.
While in Lagos she also commenced a kitchen and bathroom building company, “Cecil’s Kitchens and Bathrooms”. She loves beautiful kitchens and lovely bathrooms and had an incredible imagination in creating them. The company still caters for the needs of selected clients who savour avant garden taste. She also runs a spa in Abuja.
She’s left visible footprints on the sands of time and paved the way for others. A realist, she has found a way of facing her fears and conquering her uncertainties. She is an incurable optimist who hopes against hope and sees silver lining in the darkest clouds of life. She is a symbol of courage to many people
Politically, she is known to strategically engage where it matters most and successfully negotiates to favour the interest of the womenfolk always. Through her initiative, Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization, POWER, she has been able to take women to the front seat of decision making processes especially in the political and business circuits. POWER has made significant impact on the lives of Cross River women when she held sway as wife of the governor. The art of influencing systems and culture comes naturally to her.
Through POWER, she initiated a new project known as POWER Political Advancement for Women (PPA4W) which is intended to bridge the wide gender gap in the number of candidates contesting for elections in Nigeria as well as the inequity in terms of access to availability of funds between male and female political contestants before and during elections.
Arising from this intervention, out of a total of 232 candidates that vied for various elective offices in the local government elections (chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councilors) that held 21st September 2013, 75 of them were women (32%).
The outcome of that election shows that three women won their chairmanship bids, 15 out of 18 were elected vice-chairmen and 56 women out of 196 for councillorship positions. This is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria’s political evolution. This rare political feat that still reverberates in Cross River State and has inspired tons of women to take bolder steps of faith to “sit on the political table”
Her mission is to help women who, sadly, are under-represented across all spectrums of life, on account of their gender, to rise up and take their God-given positions in emerging economies. She is not an arm-chair advocate as she demonstrates what she preaches by going to the trenches during political campaigns and also runs one of the most successful retail outfits in Nigeria. She believes that when women come together, it won’t matter how repressive the system is, they will be able to rise to make an impact.
In appreciation of the highly impactful work Mrs. Liyel-Imoke is doing, organisations and agencies the world over, have been sending her requests for awards and honour. Being a discreet woman, she has accepted only a couple of these awards. They include among others:
i. Central Bank of Nigeria “Award of Excellence”: First Lady Support for Women Empowerment (Micro Credit) 22nd January, 2009
ii. Central Bank of Nigeria Award for Best Support First Lady for Women Empowerment (Micro credit), 2008
iii. Appointment as Education Ambassador by Mrs. Sarah Brown, Wife of Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister, 2012
iv. Africa’s Most Impactful First Lady Award presented to her in New York, US by Centre for Economic and Leadership Development, September, 2012
v. African Women Empowerment Icon Award awarded to her in Dorchester, London by African Fashion and Arts Banquet, 2013
vi. Humanitarian Award for the year by the Safari Group, 2011
vii. Munjeres Entre Mundos Award presented to her in Spain in appreciation of Her Excellency’s hospitality for hosting volunteers from Spain between 2010 and 2011
A jolly good woman, she is affectionate and has positive energy that draws others to her, we had the privilege of serving under her. She supervised us for several years when we worked as assistants to her. During that period, we learnt a lot from her. Some of the things we learnt from her were humbling. We will share a few here:
*She is God’s daughter and loves Him like an adorable daughter would to her loving father.
*She loves her husband crazily and her children too. Family comes first to her.
*She invests in friendships. She keeps faith with her friends.
*She has the heart of a child, accepts when she is wrong and tries to learn from her mistake.
*She has a magnetic warmth that makes people feel like they can tell her anything.
*She has an amazing sense of humour.
*She always have a positive outlook in life. She is an incurable optimist.
*She lets people have their moments to shine.
*She has compassion, and empathy.
*She also has amazing emotional intelligence.
*She is truly happy about others success and offer their support.
All of these make her a jolly good woman with the heart of gold. At 60, this year, Obioma Liyel Imoke has left indelible footprints on the sands of time.
An attorney, a seasoned administrator, a consummate entrepreneur, a child rights crusader, a women’s empowerment facilitator and above all, a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ whom God has blessed, Mrs. Imoke is truly a beacon of hope.
We join the hosts of heaven to wish her a glorious birthday and new year.
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