Brief Biography of Her Excellency, Mrs. Toyin Saraki
February 17, 2009
COLUMBIA, SC – February 24, 2009 – Her Excellency, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Saraki, First Lady, Kwara State, Nigeria was born on September 6, 1964 to the family of Otunba Adekunle Ojora and Erelu Ojuolape Ojora, arguably Nigeria’s foremost entrepreneurs.
She had her elementary education in Lagos, Nigeria after which she proceeded to the United Kingdom where she attended Roedean School, Brighton Sussex. Mrs. Saraki bagged her L.L.B and L.L.M degrees at the London School of Oriental and African Studies and Kings College both of the University of London. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988.
As a student in England, she took active part of every volunteer opportunity to take care of the aged. She also made all efforts to be a part of the routine welfare scheme of the schools she attended in addition to her private endeavours.
As a private citizen, Mrs. Saraki was engaged in quiet philanthropic gestures which culminated in the establishment of The Lifestream Charity in 1993. The Lifestream, pioneered by Mrs. Saraki, is a group comprising of like- minded and socially responsible friends who desire to give back to society. The Lifestream seeks children with heart deformities and has sponsored corrective surgeries in Israel, United Kingdom and South Africa. The charity also offers scholarships to indigent students, sends relief to disaster victims and builds schools for communities.
When her husband was elected Governor of Kwara State, Nigeria in 2003, Mrs. Saraki set up The Kwara WellBeing Trust to provide non- governmental support for the humanitarian activities of the state government. Within Four years, her advocacy drives have brought an astronomical rise to the level of enrolment and completion of education for children, particularly the girl- child. She has consistently encouraged women to seek medical care during pregnancy and immunize their children. Hundreds of women have benefited from the enterprise scheme of the organization. She has also paid particular attention to improving the lives of people with special needs among several other life saving initiatives and interventions.
At the national level, she is one of the most outspoken voices for the attainment of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Nigeria, which seek an appreciable reduction in the rate of maternal and infant mortalities before 2015. Mrs. Saraki has consequently attended and sponsored conferences, workshops and seminars within and outside the country to address these issues. She has also established a fund where indigent pregnant women get succor.
She is equally a foremost advocate for the actualization of the rights of children. In November 2008, she delivered the keynote address at the 33rd biennial convention of the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Milan, Italy on the topic Children are the Future; What Rights, What Laws?
She has received several awards of recognition for her contribution to the emancipation of women and children in Nigeria including the Award for Advocate of Excellence for Maternal and Child Health from the Association of Resident Doctors, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Chapter among others.
Her Excellency’s main goal is to see that women no longer die from childbirth and that every child in the world has access to all the basic needs of life.
