My First Story - From Grass to Grace

My name is Busola Adeeko. I'm also reffered to as Mama Soulace or Lady Kolojia from Lagos State, Nigeria. I am a Supply Chain Professional, a fabric art designer and model, an heliciculturist by hobby and the Co-founder/COO of Soulace Africa Initiative, an NGO supporting Girls, women and widows of the veterans community in Nigeria.

Taking from my past experiences,  I went through the ordeal of losing my beloved father when I was six years old and had my own taste of childhood trauma and child poverty. I witnessed my mother (widowed at 32 years with 6 children) worked out our survival through difficult and precarious path and had within me count of periods when we either had to squat in church houses at the expiration of our successive rent or had to sleep in our badly roofed food vending shop. My mother became jacks of all trade as at that time to ensure we had food on our table, and roof on our head. 

Getting education for me was like passing through the eye of a needle. During my Secondary school years, there were countless days I skipped school to assist my mother at the shop by hawking food in remote places in Lagos.  These experiences and many more brought out the best in me as I put my brain to work and was determined to get the education I desire and as far as I can. 

I am an honor graduate of Accountancy. An Associate Member of the Institute of  Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. I hold MBA Finance and Investment from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. And currently a PhD student in Development Finance from UNICAF University - Zambia.

My shared experiences and latent passion was the cord  of connection between  myself and my darling husband whose experiences were not any different from mine. This rationale obviously  gave birth to the establishment of Soulace Africa Initiative where we both serve in varying capacity today. 

All my past experiences culminated into my  intensely shared passion on financial inclusion for disadvantaged women most especially widows. And this explains my passion to conduct research and develop a multi million Naira social investment project named Soulace Micro Enterprise Finance Scheme (SMEFS). An hybrid investment I believe will bring succor to the marginalized war left behind widows/ survivors in Nigeria. And recently, I developed a girl child advocacy program named GCEM - HP, an educational and mental health drive for girl child within barracks community in Nigeria.

My desire is to see women of all ages and colours thrive wherever and in whatever situation they find themselves. And I have a burden to help young girls who share similar background like mine and women with stories like my mother's get their lives together, be independent financially and live that life they have always desired.