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Yeye ADEJOKE OJO, Director Of Procurement LAGOS Housing Ministry
Yeye Adejoke Ojo is the Director of Procurement, Ministry of Housing, Lagos state. This very beautiful and stylish looking lady represented the Commissioner for Housing, Honourable Maruf Akinderu Fatai at the recently held City People Real Estate awards. She delivered the Honourable Coimmissioner’s well prepared speech at the event and she wowed everyone with her stunning outfit and charming personality. She had a smile on her face for everyone and showed unparalleled humility through out the event.
The beautiful Yeye Adejoke Ojo, a proud Ekiti indigene, was gracious enough to spend a few minutes speaking with City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290). She shared with us her remarkable rise within the civil service and opened up on what the Lagos state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been doing, in conjunction with the Lagos state Building Control Agency, to address the menace of building collapse in the state. Enjoy excerpts.
We are so honoured to have you grace the City People Real Estate awards tonight, representing the Hounourable Caommissioner for Housing, lets have your full names to begin with, madam..
My name is Adejoke Ojo, Director, Procurement, representing the Honourable Commissioner, Honourable Maruf Akinderu Fatai.
Kindly give us your impression of the City People awards you just witnessed today..
Oh, it was a very wonderful event. I had a really lovely experience. And like you all know, the governor of Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr. Infrastructure, that is his vision, to provide affordable and good homes for the citizens of Lagos state. And like my honopurable commissioner said in his speech, we have about 500,000 people migrate to Lagos on a yearly basis and all of these people have to live in a house. For Lagos State to take it up as a responsibility to stand in the gap of housing deficit in Nigeria, it’s big kudos to the state government. So, I am really happy to be here to be part of this great and laudable event put together by City People.
You are also a stake holder in the built industry and one of the challenges in the state has been that of building collapse, what has the state government done to reduce the menace of building collapse in the state?
Yeah, thank you very much. As you may have observed yourself, the issue of buildding collapse in the state has reduced greatly when you compare the statistics to what we had before. Credit for this drastic reduction must be given to the Governor of Lagos state for putting a lot of effective structures in place in most of the agencies such as the Lagos State Building Control Agency at the physdical planning, they have been on their toes, ensuring that things are done right. And you can see that Lagos State Estate Regulatory Agency and with my ministry, the Ministry of Housing, we are all collaborating and working very hard to ensure that these incidents are reduced to the barest minimum and you can see yourself that the rate at which buildings were collapsing in Lagos have reduced drastically. If you go to Lagos Island for instance, you will see the Lagos state Building Control Agency examining structures and talking to landlords, owners of properties to pull down structurally deficient buildings themselves to avert tragic incidents that could claim hundreds of lives of innocent people. I can tell you confidently that the state government is working sreriously round the clock to ensure these incidents become a thing of the past.
Tell us a bit about yourself, have you always been in that sector? Which sector were you before you joined the housing ministry?
Well, I am a civil servant and as a Procurement Officer, I move around a lot. I actually started in Lagos State as a classroom teacher before moving into the Ministry of Education and from there in 2012, I moved to Procurement. And I have been all over in Procurement as a Pool staff. I’ve been in LASEPA, I’ve been in LAWMA. Presently, I’m in Ministry of Housing. So, it’s been a great experience working in all the agencies as a civil servant.
It’s a male dominated sector and you are so knowledgeable and passionate about it, which is so good to see. Altogether, how many years would you say you have put in service?
Oh, I have put in quite a lot. This year is my 30th year in service and I am a full director of Procurement and my job is my life, so that explains why I have so much passion for it. I can speak as an engineer, I can speak as architect, and I can talk as a builder because I have been in a lot of the agencies that control these different fields, so I am really enjoying Lagos State.
Outside of work, how do you unwind? I can see that you’re clearly a very fashionable woman with a very likeable personality, so how do you relax when you’re not so busy at work?
Oh, yes, I always unwind. I have to find time to unwind. I work really hard, you know. Some times, I stay back at the office working till 8pm, 9pm, depending on the situation at hand, so I am not always in a hurry to go home. Most of us, the directors, we are not always in a hurry to go home, but when I am lucky I close from work and get home by 7pm, I listen to old school songs, that’s what I love to relax with.
Tell us about your fashion style because its obvious to see you’re a very gorgeous and fashionable woman. You are certainly a mother but you have also not allowed motherhood to physically change you too much…
Well, I can tell you that fashion runs in my lineage, you need to see my mother, grandmother and great grand mother and so on. They were all very fashionable women in their own right. They looked so very beautiful. And as for me, I take very good care of myself. I don’t joke with my exercise. I always try to keep fit when I have the time. I don’t take junk food and I consume a lot of supplements and also the naturals like vegetables, I don’t joke with them. I am from Ekiti so I take a lot of vegetables that are good for my body. And at the same time, we all know that life comes with its own challenges for everyone. When these challenges come, I face it in my own little way and then let it go away so I can enjoy the happiness in life.
