Why I Hosted About 500 Children In LAGOS – Dr. ADEBUKOLA ADESANLU

 •New York-Based Philanthropist Speaks

US-based Dr Adebukola Adesanlu is not your regular philanthropist. She doesn’t seek social media validation nor does she look for any media hype. Yet, she touches the lives of Nigerians such that she has gathered such huge followership for herself.

Her antecedents speak so well of her. She is popularly called Iyalaje New York. She is the CEO of the popular group, Eke Yi Nani (Gossip Of The Highest Order). The group connects the needy to their helpers on Facebook. It is basically funded by Dr Adebukola and her husband, Dr Ife Adesanlu.

The couple are practising medical doctors in the United States of America. The Eke Group boasts of well over 50,000 followers on Facebook. On Sunday, July 31st, 2022, about 500 children and their parents were treated to a party of a lifetime. There was plenty of music, food, drinks, dance, games and more fun.

Dr Adesanlu and her husband came all the way from New York City to attend the event. The party was fun-filled. There was a bouncing castle as well as a mini train ride for the children. Not just that alone, some of the children went home with cash gifts; having participated in and won some of the games.

The crowd at the party was quite huge and they were all dressed in the Eke Yi Nani Group’s customized T-shirts. The event was held at the Oragon Event Center situated at Ogba, Lagos. City People’s Brands Editor, DAMILARE SALAMI 08155134152 caught up with Dr Adesanlu just as the event was unfolding. They had a chat during which she spoke about herself, her group and humanitarian activities.

Below are excerpts.

 

There seems to be a lot of children here having fun, would you tell us what exactly is happening here today?

Thank you very much, my name is Dr Adebukola Adesanlu, I came all the way from New York City in the United States of America and I am the CEO of this blessed group of ours, Eke Yi Nani (Gossip of the highest order). Today, July 31st, we are celebrating our children, Eke Children’s Party and we are here to give thanks to God for everything he has been doing in our lives. This is our second anniversary, we had one last year and this is the second time we are having it. The children are having fun as you can see, this is not an NGO, we are not being funded by any foundation, it is solely God, my husband, Dr Ife and myself. I thank God for everything he has been doing so far.

Why are we having so many children here? Are they members of the same school?

These are the children of some of our members. The group is on Facebook, the name is the gossip of the highest order (Eke Yi Nani) and we do celebrate our anniversary every year. We are going to be four years by October this year. The children here are about 500 and belong mainly to some of our members. The group consists of about 50,000 members.

You have such a large crowd of people. What do you do at Eke Yi Nani?

What we do here is catch fun, help the needy and provide for the needs of the less privileged. For instance, we have members who need assistance with regard to their house rent, children’s school fee, feeding, and many others. All they have to do is post it in the group and after verification, those who have the wherewithal provide the necessary assistance. So what we have been doing since inception is to help each other out.

50,000 members is so unprecedented. How were you able to gather such a crowd in four years?

Just as I said earlier, the name is Eke Yi Nani, you will hear people saying go and join that group because we do eke (gossip) in a positive way. It’s obvious that people want to be where they will have fun. As you can see, it has been fun all the way… this is because we realized that a lot of people are depressed, a lot of people are under one pressure or the other and they need a place to cool off. Many people want to be here because they know that they will be relieved of their stress here.

What is the requirement for membership?

There is no requirement at all. As long as your Facebook account is not new, I don’t accept new accounts for the fear of scammers and hackers. Anyone can join; there are no criteria in as much as your account is genuine or legit. We only don’t accept fake and new accounts.

You seem to be so passionate about this group. What do you get in return?

The smile I get from people after they have been helped is enough for me. It gives me a lot of joy to see people who are under one pressure or the other as a result of a need being relieved of such pressure. My joy knows no bounds every time my people get help on the platform.

Going forward, what else should Nigerians expect from the Eke group?

I want people to be able to stand on their feet. I want everyone who comes there with sadness to have the testimony of being helped, I want people to have their dreams achieved here. I like to carry people up, people that are hardworking but are still struggling, not the lazy type. I always tell my members that this group is not here to keep people handicapped, we are not here to make you lazy, we are here to build you up, when you’re strong and hardworking, we’ll be there for you.

What motivation do you have to keep on helping people the way you do?

When I created this group in October 2018, I created it for fun and two months after, in December, we decided to do a Christmas giveaway. When we did that, we realized that a lot of people are in need; so I decided to chip in a little support that went a long way for the beneficiaries. That became a reason to continue. I saw how much people were helped and how happy they became afterwards. The joy in their hearts and smiles on their faces were huge motivations for and are still motivating me today.

A little deeper into your past, what was growing up like for you?

I was born and raised here in Lagos, Orile Iganmu to be precise before I moved to the United States of America, to God be the glory. I was born with a silver spoon and later on, things changed from being rosy to being rocky. I was hawking oranges, palm oil and what have you. I’ve seen the good and bad sides of life, so when people tell me their stories, sometimes it moves me and I really want to help because I can feel their pains.

Is that to say that your experience in life was part of the reasons you formed the Eke Group?

Yes, because when I look back and remember the pressures that pushed me into hawking and doing other odd jobs to survive, it makes me want to help people too. That experience is my biggest motivation.

What message of hope is the Eke Group sending to the needy out there?

What I just want to tell them is that they should faithful and truthful with whatever they are putting out there because there are a lot of people out there who cook up stories just to get sympathy and pity so that they can be helped. Don’t lie, don’t falsify anything help you desire will come. For instance, there was a boy who told his story very sincerely and truthfully, people didn’t have to see him before they helped out. Merely reading some people’s posts at times, you will feel their pains. This boy made that kind of post and he got help to the tune of over 1 million naira… So my take is that don’t give up hope, be truthful with your needs and don’t keep quiet because if you speak up, you never know who will hear and help out. Another instance was a lady who put up her story in the Eke group someone from Nigeria and asked me to investigate the matter and after I did, I realized that her story was true. I reached out to the man who requested the investigation and he helped her with the sum of N400 thousand. If she hadn’t reached out, she wouldn’t have gotten that kind of help. Let’s not keep quiet, don’t die in silence, speak out because you just might never know where your help will come from.

How do you verify people’s stories when they post them on the group?

I have a team that works with me, I send them out to investigate. We also get to meet like we are doing today and when I meet some of these people too, I feel the authenticity of their stories. I also carry out my own investigations too.