Adedamola Ososanya - On Building An NGO To Protect Nigeria’s Domestic Workers & Thriving in Life and Career
Interviewed by Oluwakemi Agbato
In a WHO study, it was found that nearly 50 per cent of Nigerian domestic workers are abused daily. In this conversation, we speak to Adedamola Ososanya who is determined to do something about it while juggling her career, friendships and all of life. In 2018, Adedamola Ososanya and co-founder, Ololade Ganikale founded Here to Help Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation determined to change the narrative around domestic work through awareness, advocacy, education and outreach. Adedamola is also an investment banker who is passionate about learning and self-development.
Kemi: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Adedamola: Of course. I’ll start with my educational background; I studied Marketing, Management and Retailing at Loughborough University. Three years ago, I began my career in investment banking. I also run a non-governmental organization.
Regarding the question, I feel like I shouldn’t limit my answer to what I do or my achievements. So, as a person, I would describe myself as someone that is open and believes in the power of vulnerability. I also try to be as kind as I can be.
K: That’s so cute. Since you ended the last response with your family. Let’s get into that. What was your experience growing up?
A: Growing up was an interesting experience. I grew up in Nigeria with my four sisters and parents. I was a middle child. I’d say it was an interesting experience because growing up with many siblings pushes you to learn the power of love, empathy and forgiveness. My childhood was filled with adventure. I grew up in Somolu, Lagos and you can still see sandfly bite scars on my legs because of all the playing outside that I did. I was very mischievous and inquisitive. My mom actually took me for prayer sessions because I was so troublesome.
As the years went on, I had to grow up, a pivotal moment being my parent’s divorce. I went from a place where everything was taken care of, to a place where I had to become independent financially and emotionally.
K: Interesting. What has become of your childhood curiosity? Do you think it has persisted as a big part of who you are?
A: It still is a big part of me. I’ll start off with my professional life. I’m about to move to the 3rd team in 3 years of my career. From that, you can tell that I am very open to new challenges and honestly, it has been great for my professional life. I am always open to learning and excelling at it.
In my personal life, it has had a mixed impact. Growing up means realizing you cannot always have all the answers. That has been difficult to accept. If there is something I question, I will hold on to it like a dog with a bone and that is not the healthiest way to handle things in interpersonal relationships. Still, my curiosity has made it easy to get to know and understand people.
K: Let’s talk about your professional life. You mentioned that you studied Marketing, Management and Retailing. Yet, you work as an investment banker, how did that transition happen?
A: I was in commercial class in secondary school. But I’d be lying if I said that has impacted my career. The journey into banking was because of the compulsory placement year that was part of my degree. At the time, it was the last minute and I hadn’t applied for any role. And there was a role open at one of the top investment banks. I applied with the idea that I possibly wouldn’t get it. Fortunately, some years before, I had volunteered as a teacher in Ghana to get over heartbreak. At the interview, that was all they asked about and all the transferable skills. I received a one-year placement and received an offer to return and that was the beginning of my journey in banking.
As much as this seems smooth-sailing, I’ve had some tough times. I mentioned I was changing jobs. Well, the job-hunting process has been gruelling. I was rejected by a firm at which I had done 8 rounds of interviews. I was already calculating my new salary and the Chanel bags I was going to buy. In all, I’ve had to be very resilient and leverage my community. I don’t mean networking; I mean it is your friendships that will carry you through rejections and all kinds of difficult seasons.
K: Since you spoke about friendships, what place does that have in your life?
A: They’ve been crucial in my life. I’ve had some friendships for almost 20 years. My friends are the foundation of what my life is today. To be transparent, I struggle with depression and anxiety. In those moments where you’re in the pits, it is your friendships that will carry you and it is with them that you celebrate your wins as well. As a result of my friendships and family, one thing that I never feel like I lack is love and support.
And it is not only about having the right friends, but it is also about being the right friend as well. Friendships are all about accountability and have really helped me grow as a person. Shout out to all my friends.
K: What is your relationship with womanhood, especially as a Nigerian woman and what differences have you observed now that you live in England?
A: I realized that my gender would cause a difference in how I would be treated when I was in Primary 1. I and another boy in my class had come out on top in a class task and the teacher decided that I would be put in second place because “Boys must come first.” Growing up as a girl, I resented my womanhood. I couldn’t handle all the restrictions; why my sense of adventure had to be tamed. I was also really ashamed of menstruation; I did not know how to manage it. It was just a very tumultuous relationship. But as I grew up, seeing my mom age with grace, watching my sisters and making more female friends, I was able to find the magic in womanhood.
I think the thing that changed when I came to England when I was 17, was that my womanhood meant something different in the context of being black. I had to watch my tone, I tried not to step on any toes to be seen as aggressive. I’m at a stage now where it is like you’re going to get what you see while being a decent person. I think I’ve come into myself and my womanhood
K: You mentioned volunteering in Ghana. Is that experience linked to your NGO? Could you tell us more about the organization you run?
A: Those experiences are actually not linked. My NGO is called Here to Help Nigeria. I knew I was going to create Here to Help really early on, I think as early as 11. Here to Help focuses on raising awareness about issues that domestic workers face in Nigeria. We are also focused on legitimizing the domestic worker industry in Nigeria. This means creating employment standards that protect domestic workers and employers, as well as creating accountability for agencies on recruitment and employment practices.
Like I said, Here to Help has been a long time coming. I guess that everything ties back to this curiosity and not being able to accept things that didn’t make sense.
When I was young, it didn’t make sense to me that a child in my neighbour’s home was trafficked and forced to be a domestic worker. I don’t like to use the word employed. I knew that I wanted to do something about it and it was my calling.
I’m quite spiritual, so for a long time, I hadn’t done anything and God would keep reminding me about it at every turn.
K: Seeing as domestic workers in Nigeria are mostly women, do you think there’s any correlation between the societal state of women and this continued mistreatment of domestic workers? Do you think that this mistreatment is cultural?
A: I do think that domestic worker issues are ignored because they are mostly women. Men are also in the domestic work industry but they are often outside the home and domestic worker abuse primarily impacts live-in domestic workers which are often women. Even on a global scale, women’s issues are ignored because it is a misogynistic world.
I think culturally, being specific to Nigeria, the biggest crime is poverty. There is also an element of socio-economic class that contributes to this mistreatment. Nigerians largely only see people in their class or the classes above as people that are deserving of respect and dignified treatment. You also see this play out in formal employment, where higher-ups mistreat their subordinates. I think it is both misogyny and classism, and unfortunately at that intersection is the female domestic worker.
K: How does Here to Help plan to change things and how can the public help?
A: We’ve been very focused on raising awareness. We’ve had a lot of events, we’ve done solution sessions, an art exhibition with Made in Nigeria, we have a podcast on domestic work in Nigeria and we have blog articles on our website. When we launched, I realized that to change things, we had to get people to care about it and to care, they need to know that there is a problem. Looking forward, we are working on the Domestic Worker Certification Program in partnership with Lisa Academy to train domestic workers on the essential skills they need to succeed in the workplace. In addition, we would like to train them in domestic, first aid and other life skills so they don’t have to remain in toxic or abusive working environments.
The second half of what we are doing is the Agency Certification Program and this is an audit on agencies and their recruitment standards like contracts, agreed hours, and agreed wages. Once the agencies pass these checks, they become certified. This enables the public to identify which agencies are doing the right things. In the long run, we hope for the government to establish regulations that mandate these kinds of certifications. I believe that these certifications will improve standards and benefit domestic workers, agencies and employers
The public can help by supporting certified domestic workers and agencies once the programs launch, following our social media accounts @Here2help_ng on Instagram and Twitter, and listening to the podcast.
K: My last question is what do you see in the future for yourself, Here to Help and women generally?
A: For myself, I want to continue to grow on a personal level, help many people especially women and continue to be kind. For Here to Help, I see us getting to a point where the industry is regulated and we don’t need to exist anymore. Our success would be closure because we are no longer needed. For women, especially women in Nigeria, what I hope is for every woman is to be able to come into herself. Happiness, to be honest, whatever that looks like.
K: Thank you so much for having this conversation, is there anything else you would like us to support?
A: I’ve really enjoyed the conversation and I think Sisterly is doing amazing work.
You can follow me on Twitter @dammydamsk. Another thing people can support is a platform that I am part of called A Conversation about Womanhood. Our Instagram handle is @acawomanhood. It is a community that encourages honest and vulnerable conversations with women. I would also encourage people to support and donate to other organisations that advocate for domestic workers such as This is Lebanon and DOWAN. Thank you once again for the amazing conversation.