Ambassador Adaobi Alex-Oni is a theatre arts graduate of the University of Abuja, Nigeria, and also holds a master’s in theatre arts from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She has over 20 years of successful professional experience spanning media, broadcasting, communications and business .
Adaobi is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pancake Hub, a top-rated breakfast restaurant in Lagos Mainland, Nigeria which has been offering English breakfast and brunch services to Lagos residents since 2016.
She is an Honorary Ambassador to the African Youth Parliament (AYP) and is a recipient of the Nelson Mandela Leadership Award. She is a seasoned broadcaster, TV presenter, a strong advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, a grassroots motivator, and a promoter of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She has spoken at various events on these issues in Nigeria and Africa broadly.
Adaobi’s work has helped to raise awareness of the challenges facing women and girls in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, and has inspired many to take action to address them. She is the convener and initiator of the Role of Women in Emerging African Democracies (ROWEAD) project which works in conjunction with her flagship not-for-profit organisation – Women in Education and Leadership Development Society (WIELDS). WILEDS focuses on empowering young women and girls through education, entrepreneurship and leadership training. The organisation aims to provide resources and support to help women and girls develop the skills and knowledge they need to achieve their goals and contribute to the economic and social development of their communities.
She was the Lead Manager of Empower Women Project – an initiative of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Washington D.C., USA in collaboration with Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industry and Agriculture Women Business Group (NAWORG) from 2016 to 2018.
In 2019, Adaobi was appointed by the Governor-Elect of Imo State as a Member of the Imo State Government of Nigeria Transition Technical Committee (TCC) to serve on the Job and Wealth Creation Committee.
Adaobi is the Nigerian Chair of G100: Group of 100 Women Global Leaders, an international all-female league organisation based in India. She is also a writer, and contributes to Pride Magazine Nigeria.
In this Woman of the Month interview, Ambassador Adaobi Alex-Oni covers classic moments in tv, transforming the world with her smile, and championing women and girls.
What was growing up like for you, describe yourself and what drives and motivates you?
As the first daughter of my father and having boys before me came with loads of sweet moments of exclusivity! My looks had to be different in every nice way imagined, I got extra cookies and whatever was being shared, as a toddler everyone dotted on me, our cook then called me ADABEKE, my minder Aunty Felicia would beg my mum to change my hairstyle every day, and my grandmother Lady Beatrice Adaobi Obioha (God rest her soul) pampered me silly. My mum often told me she would come back from her teaching job and practically be begging to carry me from whoever had me tucked into their arms! My brothers were my bodyguards of some sort and till today even as a grown woman they want to protect me from every and any situation that could make me sad! Oh, then my dad who is my biggest cheerleader, would quickly remind my brothers why I need extra of anything! I remember back in secondary school, my dad would give me extra pocket money and when my brothers would frown, he will tell them ADAOBI GA E TEH POWDER (Adaobi will use powder so she needs the extra to look more beautiful). My growing up was filled with love and sweet memories that has become a place I travel back to in my head. Even when there was a slight change in the environment, and more children arrived, the family expanded, still I was and still am the beloved of all; it’s kind of a cliché for me that the love for me by my family started from me! I will describe myself as my forever love. I have always seen me as my best self and believed that there is only one version of me, and that for me is my greatest strength. I love people and am a very spontaneous person. I am always in the now, always present, it’s so important for my wellbeing that I hardly go to bed thinking of how someone’s opinion would affect my dancing moves in the morning. I don’t give space to let other’s views affect me and maybe that’s why I don’t have it in me to keep grudges, I will speak my mind and move on. I am not moved by popular or public opinion once I am at peace with myself and that for me is a sign that God is happy with me so… am very spiritual in all things and I can say that a lot of times I have done things not because it will bring any reward but the satisfaction that in doing good, God will be happy with me! That is my motivation. And so when I stick to my gut and refuse to do things that may please people but within me there is peace then I also know God approves. However, if around that same situation I am restless and I say my rosary asking my mother Mary to help me and am still restless, ah then I must do everything to make it right because then it tells me God is not pleased at all! I rely too much on God to function and that has given me my go at life. I just do me always but always in consideration of how it will affect me and others around me. I would say that I look towards me to be the best possible human being people can at least tolerate.
With over 20 years of a successful professional career spanning various industries, how has your work evolved through the years?
ADAOBI JUKEBOX… can you imagine that was my name. Working at Minaj Television happened at the time I was emerging as a young adult. I was just rounding up my master’s programme at the University of Ibadan and I was looking forward to finally being a theatre manager somewhere given I was majoring in theatre arts. It was an exciting moment but at the same time thoughts were floating around in my head what do I do if am not staging a play or an ensemble in the theatre. I’d come to Lagos for a holiday and I got this call if I would like to work in a tv station; it sounded like a familiar place to be, so I jumped at it. My job interview was to be thrust in front of the camera and the show went live! Oh my word, I couldn’t keep my face up and I remember my producer then Gregory Clem, a very kind and gentle heart kept saying “Aggii look into the camera”, and I would turn my head from left to right smiling all through! And the rest is history! I came to be known as the smiling girl! My smile became my identity all over the world, yes I had fan clubs from London to Italy, some African countries, oh MINAJ WAS REALLY INTERNATIONAL! So, from that day on I would smile and smile and smile even if I didn’t know what to do! It was awesome. In fact, on some occasions, I would be so sad or downcast before the programme but once it was JUKEBOX time, boom! the smile came on. So, from then on I decided it was no longer mine to keep; regardless of what was going on, I would have to put my feelings aside and smile through the lens of the camera to thousands of hearts waiting to be warmed by that smile and I am truly grateful to God that even after 20 plus years when people see me they go “Excuse me, you look like one lady who used to present Jukebox on MBI”, and then once I smile they go “that’s her, that’s Adaobi, that’s the smile!” In fact, a fan once stopped me at a mall in London and I said God is this how far you took me? Chineke thank you SIR OOH. That phase of my career was the most impressionable. Oh my word! All at once, I became independent, I became a brand, I became a grown woman, and then I became a force in the industry at that time, which was quite a lot to take but somehow, I came out good. My most unforgettable experience on television that changed my perspective on a lot of things especially dealing with people and understanding being in another’s shoes was during the Ikeja bomb blast in 2002. I had followed our news crew to the cantonment to cover the news and getting there I was in shock the whole time, seeing the human devastation, oh a lot of sadness and hopelessness, it was huge and no cameras were allowed to film the situation and which was also understandable, people were at their lowest. Grown men and women were weeping, they couldn’t find their wives, husbands, children. People were scattered in all directions in a bid to escape death from the bomb explosions. I wept with them and there was a young officer who whispered into my ears “Ah Adaobi, I am so happy to see you live”, and that kind of startled me, like in this sad moment someone still had the time to pause to appreciate what I do on tv! Gosh that was huge and I simply hugged him. Others on sighting me started coming to me, forming a circle to keep me inside within them. Soon a crowd had gathered around me, and looking at the long faces, I smiled at them and I got the reaction from them that changed something in me that day and which remains till today! Through their tears they laughed and said, “See ADAOBI OOH, ah please oh mention us on your programme when you get back to your station.” I was crying and laughing, hugging the women and the children, oh my word, it was something. My producer called and asked why I was still out there, he said it was time for me to get back to studio, the office was already calling for me to come back so that my programme JUKEBOX will not fail! I just looked at my growing audience and decided in that instant, in that emotionally charged moment to ask my producer if I could present my programme from that spot, outdoors and with all these people. He paused on the phone and said I needed to take calls in the studio. I said, “OK sir but here are my callers, these people right here! Sir I will chat with them, I will give them the mic to request for any music they want me to play, they can use our platform to reach out to their lost ones so they will know they are okay and find their way back to them at the makeshift camp.” He reluctantly approved but that one show was an instant hit – it was the best show ever. The people were so happy, they became my audience and co-presenters as well. That experience gave our station a good standing in the industry and I was nominated for an award. That point in time was everything for me – through the tears, we laughed and we sang and dance, and all of this was captured; it was and still is my classic moment. The memory is timeless, I still get some nostalgic feelings of that day almost twenty years after.
As a strong advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, what have been the gains you’ve seen over the years for women? And what do you consider the major challenges facing women and girls in achieving equality in Nigeria?
Being a member of the chamber movement and actively managing a women-focused project for the NACCIMA Business Women Group through the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Washington brought me face-to-face with the greatest species that walk the earth – women. It was an eye opener as to how women have the magic touch to turn things around, be it family, work or business they are indeed committed and they have the ability to also bear all and hold it together regardless. Being the lead manager of this Empower Women Project showed me first-hand that a lot of things society promotes as women agenda are indeed just lip service. One of our stakeholder roundtable meetings was an interface with the women in the legislature, and it was heartbreaking to discover that women are not fairly represented in government and policymaking processes. One such example was where only ten women in a chamber of one hundred and something people would have to lobby their male counterparts to help pass a bill that will affect the girl child and women. Such bills were often defeated simply because the few who were there lack the numbers so the NAYS always had it, and with the just-concluded election you can see glaringly the underrepresentation of women.
Having held many leadership positions in the course of your career, if you could do away with one misconception about women in leadership, which one would it be and why?
Oh, women are the problem, they don’t like helping their follow women! Bla bla! It goes on and on. Well in my years of meeting and working with support groups or associations, I will tell you my biggest cheerleaders are my fellow women, both the older and younger ones. The power of togetherness is so huge. Right from the family end. You see a woman who sees other children as hers as well, you can tell how genuine the love to correct and to teach is. I’m working in spaces where women are gathering other women to put them through, help them learn and excel, these I have seen and experienced first-hand. However, due to the often hostile environments we work in, some may tend to hold in and hold tight, and go overboard sometimes by trying to block others from getting to where they are. For me I see that as some sort of insecurity and the fear of not being needed anymore so we hold on and off for as long as we can, but not seeing how much damage we are doing by such acts. Time, they say waits for no one and life in its dynamics has no time to pause it keeps moving! Meaning new situations must happen and there must be a changing of the guard constantly happening. My take is some women find it difficult to let go.
And the shortfall of more professional positions for women in establishments is some sort of leadership failure. There is need to call for intensive integration of women into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but at this point, this may just not be enough. Transfer of knowledge is key so we must go back to skill acquisition centres and form a collaboration with large corporations that can take the crusade of women empowerment and employability of women to the grassroots. I am not naïve, and just can’t gloss over the reality of the unhealthy challenges women face while trying to strive in a male-dominated environment, as I’ve mentioned, it is often hostile and lonely, and one can imagine why! I guess women have more gaps to fill in when it comes to areas of science and technology, business, governance and politics. It is within reach now and it can be done.
Finally, as a woman I decide how I want my boy child to see and treat his sister at home with respect and love so that when he is in a position of power and authority, every woman he crosses paths with is his sister in many ways and such he will treat her with same respect and dignity. That way 80 percent of a balanced society is built indirectly by giving the men the opportunity to see women as partners and not spectators. It’s sad but hey better days are ahead because in spite of these setbacks, women have refused to take the back seat, women insist that they are no longer part of the agenda but the agenda. I know deep down in my heart we shall be heard and resoundingly too. The awareness is here already! However, the challenge is enormous, from financial independence to political acceptance, because you see culturally, society often places little or no emphasis on women as viable options but women have time and time again made tremendous strides towards uplifting themselves and taking a seat at the table both in governance and in the workspace. That counts for something. So just don’t hold your breath for too long, it is uhuru soon, for the beautiful strong ones are born already and more are coming.
You are a seasoned broadcaster, TV presenter, writer and entrepreneur, how are you able to juggle between roles and be at your best?
As for broadcasting. I was at my prime. At my very energetic and productive years back then. For me multitasking was part of the brief. Honestly the job of television was one I could not let any moment slip by at all. I had a specific time for production calls and the show must go on! Being a writer was still storytelling but through pen and paper. My articles were written from a storytelling perspective, regardless of how serious the issues of the subject matters were, I always had this thing that just comes from within and I don’t stop till it’s all told. There was article I wrote about diabetes and it’s dangers but it was so hilarious the way I told the story, it had anyone who read it laughing and at the same time not missing the message on how to manage your sugar. Some of my articles can be read on Pride Magazine Nigeria Online “Adaobi on Sundays”. So I can say my style of writing made my job easy, it was so much easier to write in that narrative form so I always looked forward to my next article. You could say it’s a form of satire but on paper.
Trade and industry is a family thing. I have always had a penchant for enterprise regardless of the scale. However I always wanted to do it my way. So when it seemed life had thrown us lemons we decided to make lemonade and serve it chilled. My husband and I decided to go back to doing what we do best, create some goods and services people would want. PANCKE HUB was meant to be our retirement plan and a hobby too. My husband being a great cook and I having this incredible passion to create food that may seem odd but very tasty. You know, something we would start when our kids have all gone to pursue their own lives. Retirement came early and till today we are eternally grateful to God for showing us this path. Once when we traveled for holidays and we went to this famous pancake house and I saw on their menu a combination we had at Pancake Hub which many people thought was odd! How do you eat pancake and spicy chicken and there I held in my hand the same combination! Previously when we visited a year before it was not there, I just kept saying excitedly, this people copied me ooh! It was a great feeling.
What advice would you give young people in Nigeria today who are try to secure a stable financial and professional future?
For me the young ones, especially the Gen Zs as we call them, are the luckiest. They come already empowered, though they feel more entitled – speaking from experience with my sons. But on a more serious note, the young ones today are overly smart and intelligent, sometimes I wonder if God purposely reserved this much intelligence for this Gen Zs. I tell you before you plan for them, they have already shown you what plans they have and I bet you it is always the better of the two. So, for me my advice will be, make the best of the education and exposure you have, I mean referring to the strong foundation the ones before them have laid. This is the age of technology, the age of limitless possibilities, there is so much power entrenched in the hands of the younger people today. I am so impressed at their tenacity, be it in business, education or entertainment. Even recently in politics. The political landscape changed because the young people decided to get involved. I am lost here as to what to advise them, truth is I look to them for inspiration, to stay active but having said this, I will advise that consistency and hard work is the key, else you will be caught with the quit-and-pack-up bug and that can derail one’s ambition. Set realistic goals and always come to terms with present reality and make peace with it. For those who also own small businesses like mine, keep at it, keep pushing and have faith that one day, you would grow. Importantly, be honest in all you do, especially in your business dealings. Don’t try to copy anyone because that is the most potent potion for failure and I know too many people don’t do well failing. Just like when we started the all-breakfast restaurant and the place for your best breakfast (don’t take my word for it, ask Siri or google), Pancake Hub, so many people said oh why just breakfast, hmmm pancakes how! Why not add other foods like rice, etc., but we stuck to our original plan and today am happy to say that our inner conviction has stood us out as the best breakfast place to come in Lagos. It was tough because at some point, we wondered to ourselves if we should add other foods, but we said we will go on with our plan of being known for breakfast and to the glory of God I can say we are good. Try to filter the noise and always listen to your strongest inner voice. So be yourself and do right by you and God, but above all, be humble. Humility is the greatest virtue. Running my breakfast restaurant has taught me some really hard and not so pleasant lessons when it comes to human management. The customer they say is king but I think a humble customer is the real king/queen. Some are so rude that you wonder what their parents or people in their lives must be going through, but like I said the biggest challenge in any aspect of life is human management. Once you can master the act of being calm and calculated no matter the situation, then you are the real king/queen on both sides.
What’s your life motto?
My motto – IT’S NOT UP TO MAN! All is up to God.
Kindly share your biggest lessons that others can learn from you, especially younger women.
Depend solely on God and make each day count by being true to self and have no expectations of anyone that way it’s easy to deal with whatever life brings your way. Show respect and have empathy for your follow human being. In everything you do, you must seek to make and be at peace with yourself because you can’t give what you don’t have. Life is hard but it’s hardest when you can’t look the person in the mirror and tell the truth.
What do you take pride in?
Being a mother to the world’s two greatest sons, beautiful souls in and out. Their kindness and good nature are the reason I want to be a good human being for humanity. Also knowing that I have such a beautiful smile that I acknowledge is not mine to keep but God’s gift to share with people which gives peace to those I encounter in my everyday life. When the camera stops rolling and shouts of cuts are over, I take pride in being a mum.