The happiest people don’t bother about whether life is unfair. They just concentrate on what they have. This animates the life of IBIENE’s Creator of the month who has experienced the very highs and very lows yet is happy and is using her experience to better the lives of others. Her chat with IBIENE aims to do just that – to inspire you to feel the very pulse of the now and live life to the very fullest. She is Olori Olusola Adedoyin-Alao, an amazon, cancer survivour, mother of healthy twin babies at 59, and hope to those who feel there’s none.
We hope you heave a heavy sigh of relief and let go of the weight on your shoulders as you read.
IBIENE: What is your perspective on life?
Olori: I have since learned the hard way that no matter who you are or what you are. You have very little control over life.
You can only try but will discover that there is a bigger power out there that seems to be in control
One person cannot force the entire Nigeria to vote for a particular candidate, but you can only control your own personal choice. Within your own limited space.
My grandmother would tell me to stretch out my two hands and see how far I can get. Once I do that, she then says that the amount of space that you have is what you have been given to operate in at that particular time
Anything outside that, you will have to move to another location and stretch again.
I try to hold on to that greater power that I call “God” to help me navigate. Whenever I get it wrong, God will help to reroute my direction.
But never stay stagnant or idle. Just keep moving.
Keep learning, and keep trying to move on despite all challenges.
IBIENE: You were told you had less than a week to live, yet here you are. How many days more have you lived since that pronouncement?
Olori: This was 2006 and after all the cancer treatment. It was a very confusing time but fortunately my father in the lord. Pastor E.A. Adeboye called me to check up on my health. I personally find it very intriguing that Daddy and Mummy still find time to personally check on people.
However, when I told him that the doctors said everything had failed and that your daughter, has been told to go home and die.
His response was that I should let him pray and he will call me in the evening. He did not call but came instead and rebuked the cancer cells from the roots. I believe that he must have returned with the same flight that brought him to the UK to pray because I was told that he returned to Lagos en route to Enugu for his crusade.
IBIENE: What happened between then and now?
Olori: It took a lot to recover from the devastating effect of chemotherapy.
I had lost too much weight, and could not eat because my stomach was always on fire.
Could not sleep, always restless. I had a loss of memory and had to work hard to recover from all the horrible side effects of the treatment.
It is the most horrible thing that could have happened to any human being.
Hmm, I have every reason to thank God and Pastor Adeboye for that.
Quite honestly, I don’t know what happened. I am just a candidate of grace and mercy
That was 2006, and we are now in 2023. 13 years of being alive and struggling to continue to overcome the challenges of life.
IBIENE: Having a set of twins at almost 60 is a one-in-a-million occurrence. What was that journey like?
Olori: I was very fortunate but it was off the list of challenging pregnancies. You couldn’t tell that I was pregnant.
In fact, a friend in the USA saw my picture on my father’s birthday. She sent a WhatsApp message to ask if I was pregnant and I called her a witch because nobody knew or saw anything until it was over five months.
I was about 7 months gone before I started feeling pregnant or feeling any discomfort.
IBIENE: As the daughter of a chief and wife to a king, how do you manage the nexus between culture and faith?
Olori: My father is actually a Prince, not a chief.
My paternal grandmother contributed majorly to my upbringing, so I was unknowingly adequately prepared for the role.
Culture and faith are two distinctly different things.
Culture has to do with the way and manner things are done.
While faith has to do with what you believe is and way of worshipping your belief.
IBIENE: What suggestion do you have for women approaching their 50s and 60’s?
Olori: I will encourage women at this stage of life to be very self-conscious most especially with their body challenges and issues concerning health.
IBIENE: Do you miss the fast-paced life of the banking industry?
Olori: Not really, as I said in an earlier interview. I miss not having a career because my leaving the industry abruptly really destabilized me and the truth is that career-wise, I still have not found my feet. Still believing God to firmly relocate me.
Can you believe that? Can’t stop laughing at myself in this regard (laughs).
IBIENE: what useful life lessons has the industry taught you?
Olori: The banking that we built then was to work to build a business that will help build the County not just for profit making. The banking of today is for the purpose of building the bankers themselves.
IBIENE: Talk to us about your cancer foundation and who can have access to the facility.
Olori: Mariasam Foundation is about creating awareness and free screening in the communities and also helping people who have been diagnosed with treatment protocols or in any other way necessary.
Do you have any question(s) or comment(s) for Olori Olusola Adedoyin-Alao? Do share here in the comment section.
