Reverend Sister Ann Falola of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles Congregation is the initiator of Maria Centre, an empowerment project for vulnerable girls and indigent women. In this chat with ENE OSHABA she expresses disappointment over the commercialisation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, supports ban on importation, and makes case for Nigerians to buy made in Nigeria products in order to grow the country’s economy.
Maria Centre has a project with the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), what is it all about?
I don’t want this initiative to be associated with IDPs because there is this commercialisation of IDPs camps, which I don’t want to get involved with, and that’s why I am not calling it an NGO.
We are religious and we are sensitive to human suffering so where ever there is human suffering, be it IDPs, women, we help especially since I am a woman I feel I can help other women.
We started helping people in the IDPs camp but we are moving gradually away from there because we feel very sad about the commercialisation of the issue of IDP and we are not part of that.
How sustainable is the programme?
It is a religious initiative, so as long as God feels that there is a need and there are people who would benefit from it, God will make it possible for us to sustain it.
We started with nothing and we are standing on good providence. We take one step at a time and we have got some machines, since we are mostly volunteers it is not capital intensive. We only need little money to mobilise ourselves and get materials.
How do you get funds to carry out programmes?
We get from friends, who are mostly from the Catholic Church.
What inspired the initiative?
I am a missionary, a religious and a Reverend Sister of the Our Lady of Apostles Congregation. Historically in this country and other parts of the world, we help women to stand up especially when they are down.
We started the first girls’ school in this country, so we have a history of that.
I looked around and saw that there are still women who cannot stand up on their feet and I felt I should help them get on their feet. Many of these women have very low self esteem because of the trauma they have been through but we have taught them to believe in themselves and know they can achieve whatever they set their mind to achieve if they are determined and committed.
When they started seeing what they could produce, based on what we have taught them, by themselves they couldn’t believe it.
Women empowerment
What are the criteria for selecting your beneficiaries?
We don’t select; anybody who is in need that comes to us, whether Christian or Muslim, irrespective of your state or ethnicity, will be assisted. That is why I disassociate from using the term IDPs. In fact at one point people taught IDP’s were only from Borno or Adamawa states but in this country there are many displaced people economically, educationally, among others. Those from Borno or Adamawa were displaced due to insecurity and Boko Haram is one factor that led to displacement like the others I have mentioned. So, anybody who comes, we give that support.
Would you say ethnicity and religious bias are problems in Nigeria?
People just need to see mentors who do things differently; I think we have failed in projecting good mentoring in Nigeria. If people see that in my team I am the same as a Yoruba or Hausa and I treat people equally we won’t have much issues.
We have held too high the negatives so people think that is the way to do it. We need to be more visible to ourselves especially those who are doing good things. We don’t need to blow trumpets of our good deeds but we should know that the power of God is what keeps us going and that is why those who do good should let their light shine and should not be afraid to talk about what is good and what motivates them.
This initiative, I am spearheading, is not an NGO. It is not any big organisation. We just believe that a little good by everyone makes some difference.
Did the coronavirus pandemic affect your initiative?
Of course it did. The virus has huge negative effects on almost everything. From lockdown to social distancing and yet another lockdown is practically being announced. People don’t have money to buy our products and that’s where it becomes trying!
People don’t have money to donate and we have a lot of problems. We supported the women to make bags for a conference recently and people who participated scrambled to get them because they were well made, hand-made bags.
What this means is that there is a potential market and our product is better than what we import from China, Dubai, and so on and we made it here with our own ankara. If we get help and produce like this, court yard industries can be encouraged for export and people will get a little bit of income and poverty reduces in the process.
What’s your take on the ban on importation?
Nigerians like to talk from both sides of their mouths. If we really are serious we should stop importation. I was listening to a programme where the need to encourage court yard industries was stressed and just immediately after that an advert was played calling for those who want cheap holidays overseas. I was like we are just talking about encouraging our own businesses yet we advertise foreign businesses.
I mean, why can’t we advertise for holidays here? I think people don’t like the truth, they just think somebody can bring the change we desire in a minute. If we all look at what we wear and imagine how much is made from it, and whether if it is made in Nigeria we can make all of these and make the economy grow. There is a young Nigerian man who makes good shirt which can compete with that of Dubai, I did the experiment by mixing his shirts with Dubai shirts and people didn’t even know the difference, in fact, they picked his own more. That means if we promote our products people will buy.
Let our leaders wear ankara, adire, and stop wearing imported clothes and shoes, bags because we have enough leather in this country to make simple sandals and school shoes in fact, that is what the developed countries did to stand on their own.
I can still remember that during the Awolowo administration there was no importation of things and that is why we didn’t borrow money. As long as we continue to import it means we are living beyond our means. So, people should stop crying and do the right things.