If the First Lady of Bayelsa State, Rachael Dickson, had her way, every girl in the state will be educated and she’s not daydreaming. Neither is this wishful thinking. Since her Foundation organized the first ever Bayelsa Women’s Summit in 2012, during which among other important pronouncements, she and her team declared war against girl-child illiteracy, Mrs. Dickson, who holds a Ph.D from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka has been actualizing the dream.

Many have described her as a force of nature as she has revitalized the dreams of young mothers who had long given up on education with many of them registering in her scholarship scheme. A few short years from now, hundreds of girls will thank her for their certificates, just like she adores her late father, Pa Friday Konyefas for ensuring that she got an education. In this interview, she talked about why girl-child education is so important to her and also opened up about the special relationship she had with her father and her remarkable relationship with her husband, plus her fashion secrets. Excerpts…   

How would you describe your experience as the first lady of Bayelsa State?

I really cannot summarise any experience in one word. Neither can I share my experiences in this interview. But I can start by saying that it has been as challenging as it has been rewarding. Words cannot describe how much fulfillment I get by working for and with the people of Bayelsa State. Whatever effort I make is in support of the great job being done by the Dickson administration. However, as simple as my contributions to better the lives of the people have been, it has brought me joy that is hard to describe.

Did you ever think your responsibilities were too heavy for your shoulders?

Well, you know that as the wife of the governor, I’m the mother of the state and society frowns at mothers who desert their children. I believe that my work is cut out for me as the wife of governor of Bayelsa State and like most of my other colleagues, I have learnt to have a large heart. I have learnt to accommodate different individuals. Even in a nuclear family, a mother treats each child differently, because she just has to make all her children happy. It’s the same at the level that I operate. Each day, I devise a means by which I can help my people. No mother wants to be found wanting when her children need her, I don’t want to be a mother that disappoints her children.

People in public office often complain about having to cope with countless demands that come their way. Have you had similar experiences and how do you feel when people react with much joy when your interventions solve their problem?

Whenever my programme touches lives, it gives me a whole lot of satisfaction. Like I said earlier, it is hard describing the emotions that run through my mind when people who come my way have their problems solved. I come from a family of selfless individuals. As a child, I used to admire the way my father willingly lent a hand to those in need. I was brought up in a loving family in which selflessness is one of our core values.

I never knew there would be a time in my life when being selfless will come in handy. However, now as the mother of my state, it is my duty to bring succor to the downtrodden. Each day, I try my best to restore hope among the less privileged and others who are facing different challenges. My doors are always open to those in need. I however have a mission to change the lives of girls in my state. Like it is in many parts of the world, in the South-South, girls are always at the receiving end. It’s the girl who has to stay at home to baby-sit. She is the one who drops out of school when her parents cannot afford to pay fees for more than one child. Worse still, she is sometimes given out in marriage to lessen the financial burden of the family. Girls hardly are given the same opportunities with the boys and we shouldn’t allow this to continue. So, I took the bold step towards bettering the lot of women by setting up the Friday Konyefas Foundation. My goal is to support government to increase enrolment of girls in schools. For me, I totally agree with experts who say that the fastest way to make people great is by educating and empowering the girl-child. We will not only be working with girls of school age, we will equally be of assistance to young women who need a second chance, those who want to take a shot at education. The Bayelsa of my dream is one where girls are well informed and educated.

Your foundation is named after your father. Why is this so?

I just told you how much love my father showered on me as a child. My late father meant a lot to me. Growing up, I knew that I had a father I could rely on. His love and devotion to me and my siblings gave us plenty of confidence. Aside from the way he led our family in love, I learnt a lot from him from how he related with his kindred and friends. He taught me that a human being must have values that will stand the test of time. He taught me that having a good reputation is worth more than gold and silver. More importantly, my father educated me when few men believed in investing in the education of their daughters, for my father, my education wasn’t even debatable. He had his mind made up about sending his daughters to school and nobody could convince him to do otherwise and because of this, I decided to set up a foundation to promote the values he stood for and to immortalize him.

It seems your father was the most important influence in your life isn’t it?

Right now, my husband is the number one man in my life, but as a child and a young girl, my father was the centre of my world. People used to ask my father why he was spending money to educate a girl, but he sponsored me to the best schools and he ensured that I graduated from university. I have fond memories of him. When I remember some of the pieces of advice he gave me, his acts of philanthropy and his love for the next man, I tell myself that I have to do the best I can to stop girls from moving round the vicious circle of poverty.

How about your mother? What kind of relationship did you both have?

My mother was strict but she was loving too. Even as a disciplinarian, my mother used to admonish us with love. She was a great partner to my dad. She stood by him and I guess he knew he could rely on her.

You have lofty goals. How far have you gone with reaching girls through your foundation?

Last year, we hosted the first Bayelsa Women’s Summit, the event was a success as it was a meeting point for those in need and experts who can help them. It also was an emotional event as we had girls coming out to speak about how possible it is to triumph over adversity. There was an outpour of emotion at the event. Young women decided to return to school even as wives and mothers. Already, we are preparing for the second edition of the summit. Our goal is to evaluate our programmes. For the first edition of the summit, we simply wanted our (Bayelsa women’s) voices to be heard and to kick-start some sort of renaissance, and we haven’t done badly. The Dickson administration has shot past the 30percent affirmative action target by 10percent with regards to female appointments. We have about 40 female councillors and five women council chairpersons. This year, our goal is to get more girls back into school. We have set up the right mechanisms through which women and girls who are serious about getting education are given scholarships. I must mention that the response we have got is overwhelming.

Lots of women have showed interest in benefiting from the scholarship scheme.

Soon, you will host the second edition of the Bayelsa Women’s Summit. What are the challenges you’ve faced in the last one year?

Ours is a traditional society in which a woman’s role is already cut out for her. So, you find lots of young girls in their 20s with families though they have little or no income.

They have little or no education. Most of them still have to work on their confidence for them to believe that they can make it in life. To remedy the situation, we have organised seminars and workshops to enlighten girls that they can make it beyond their current circumstance. I am happy that girls are listening to our message that they can change their life stories if they return to school. It hasn’t been easy, but we are making progress. We confront our challenges as they come.

Where do you see the Friday Konyefas Foundation in 10years?

My dream is for the foundation to be recognised by local and international development partners as a well run organisation with genuinely measurable results from its interventions. I really hope that in 10years we would have produced university graduates and saved lives through our health related interventions.

I also hope that we will be able to show the world the young female entrepreneurs we empowered.

How would you assess the interventions of other governors’ wives?

Each of us is doing her best to touch lives through her pet projects. It’s quite clear that first ladies have contributed a great deal to women and youth empowerment. There is no gainsaying that wives of governors are doing their bit to make Nigeria a better place. I feel if someone or any organisation takes out time to analyse the activities of governors’ wives, the result of the research will show that we have done a lot to better the lives of our people.

How do you combine your role as First Lady with your duties at home?

Over time, I have learnt how to combine public life with running the home. Don’t forget that my husband has been in government for some time; first as Attorney-General of the state and as a member of the House of Representatives. You don’t have to be a superwoman to be the mother of your state and a homemaker, but you have to manage your time effectively. You also have to set your priorities and the best set of priorities is one that has the family on top of the list. So, what I do is that, I put my home in order before I step out for public functions.

In other words, young mothers shouldn’t compromise the comfort of their families in order to meet their career obligations?

My advice is that the career woman finds a means of striking a balance between work and family. Family comes first and because of this, career women have to structure their day in a way that the family doesn’t suffer. There might be young women reading this and wondering how they can make my advice useful to them because it is tough to combine work and family. They should look around and they will see that though it’s stressful sometimes, they aren’t the only ones struggling to be a good mother, a caring wife and a reliable employee. In other words, the struggle to juggle work and family is continuous. There is hardly anyone who can say she has perfected the art of combining her roles at home and work.